Omicron spreading faster than Delta, doubling cases every 3 days at least: WHO

GENEVA: Amid the unabated spread of omicron cases across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the infection numbers of the new variant are doubling at least every 3 days. According to the WHO, the new version of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the delta strain in countries with documented community transmission, with the number of cases doubling in 1.5 to 3 days.

As of 16 December, the Omicron variant has been identified in 89 countries in all six WHO regions. As more data becomes available, the current understanding of the Omicron variant will continue to evolve. In an update on Saturday (December 18), United Nations health agency Said there is consistent evidence that Omicron has a substantial growth advantage over Delta.

“It is spreading significantly faster than the delta version in countries with documented community transmission, with a doubling time between 1.5–3 days. Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity and remains uncertain The extent to which the rapid growth rate has been observed can be attributed to immune evasion, intrinsically enhanced transmissibility, or a combination of both,” WHO said.

However, given the currently available data, it is likely that Omicron will overtake the delta where community transmission occurs. The UN agency said there was still limited data. Omicron’s clinical severity, More data are needed to understand the severity profile and how severity is affected by vaccination and pre-existing immunity.

According to the WHO, hospitalizations continue to rise in the UK and South Africa and given the rapidly increasing number of cases, it is possible that many health systems could quickly become overwhelmed. The United Nations agency said there is still limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness for Omicron.

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