untitled design

The Omicron mutation is found in an increasing number of countries

More and more countries were announcing cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus yesterday, Friday, which, although the WHO says it does not know of any deaths from it, raises concerns to the point that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering revising it. its forecasts for global development.

More than a week after the announcement by South Africa of its discovery, the new variant has been recorded in 38 countries and has caused a wave of panic around the world, prompting a number of countries to tighten their health measures and close their borders.

As it spreads so fast, Omicron “could shake confidence” and cause “possibly downward revisions of our October projections for global recovery,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

At the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic is still raging in some countries: according to its statistics service, Russia recorded almost 75,000 deaths in October alone, the month that was the deadliest to date in this country of 145 million. residents since the beginning of the pandemic, which has cost the lives of a total of 520,000 people.

In the European Economic Area (European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), until yesterday, Friday, at noon, 109 cases were recorded, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

In France, 12 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported, according to health authorities, the US counts a total of 10, two of which concern patients who have not traveled abroad, indicating that transmissions are now local.

Australia on its part announced the first three cases in Sydney yesterday, despite the ban on foreigners entering its territory and the restriction of flights to the southern part of Africa.

Spain also spotted the first case of local transmission, a vaccinated 62-year-old man who had not traveled.

Tunisia and Mexico announced their first cases yesterday.

In October, the IMF had already revised downwards its forecast for global GDP growth to 5.9% this year, mainly due to the inequality of vaccination coverage in the world.

According to UN statistics, about 65% of people in the least developed countries have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, compared with just 7% in the least developed countries.

The appearance of the variant is “the last proof” of the danger of inequalities, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Francesco Roca told the French Agency, reminding the threat to see “very new variations in places where the percentage is very low”.

Many unknown parameters

Although the new variant seems highly contagious, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO), Christian Lindmeier, said yesterday that he had not received “any information referring to Omicron-related deaths”.

As more and more countries test for the new variant, “we will have more cases, more information and – although I hope not – possibly deaths,” he said.

In all, Omicron has been identified in 38 countries and the variant has now spread to the six WHO regions, Covid-19’s technical director Maria Van Kerhov told reporters during the same briefing.

WHO considers the variant “likely” to spread worldwide as, according to a South African study, the risk of sticking Covid-19 again with Omicron is three times higher than with the Beta and Delta variants. .

In South Africa, the new variant is already prevalent and health authorities have identified a peak of infections in children, without knowing so far whether it is linked to Omicron.

New bans

Never before has a variant of the Covid-19 caused such panic after the appearance of Delta, which currently dominates and is already very contagious. Around the world, announcements of radical measures and restrictions on travel are multiplying.

After Austria, Germany is moving towards compulsory vaccination and a law in this direction will be considered by parliament by the end of the year.

The Irish government announced last night new restrictions, including the closure of discos from December 7 to January 9, while Greece reduced the deadline for a third dose of vaccine.

Switzerland will lift the mandatory quarantine for vaccinated people to enter the country today, but will tighten test requirements.

In Asia, the day after the announcement of two cases from Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka announced their first cases yesterday, all travelers returning from Africa.

At the moment, WHO Director-General of the Tetros Antanom Gebregesos stressed that the lack of vaccination coverage and tracking, especially in Africa, is “a perfect recipe for variations to occur and multiply”.

Several laboratories, including Moderna, AstraZeneca, PfizerBioNTech and Novavax, have stated that they are confident in their ability to develop a vaccine against Omicron. Russia is also working on a version of its Sputnik V that specifically targets this variant.

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of at least 5,233,111 people worldwide and has infected almost 265 million people since the end of 2019, according to a count of the French Agency.

Source: AMPE

Read also:

.

Source From: Capital

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular