WHO determines that new variant is “risky”: it was named “omicron”

Detected in South Africa, early November.
The World Health Organization (WHO) group of experts meeting today to analyze the impact of the new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa determined that it is a “risk variant,” possibly more contagious, and named it with the Greek letter omicron.

The WHO acknowledges that some of the new mutations of the omicron variant seem to suggest an even greater capacity for transmission than previous strains, with cases detected “in almost all South African provinces.”

“The variant has been detected at a faster rate than in previous surges in infection numbers, which may indicate that it has an advantage when it comes to spreading,” WHO experts stressed in a statement.

They have not yet indicated whether the new variant is more or less resistant to anti-Covid vaccines, but they did point out that PCR diagnostic tests for the disease appear to still be effective in detecting it.

These experts, who met in an emergency meeting in the so-called Advisory Group of Experts on Virus Evolution, warned that the emergence of this variant, first confirmed in a specimen collected on November 9, has coincided with a sharp increase in infections in South Africa.

The omicron variant, which has led many countries to suspend flights to southern Africa, is causing concern due to the high number of mutations it presents, as in just two weeks around thirty have already been detected, with confirmed cases not only in South Africa but also in neighbouring Botswana, Hong Kong (China) and Belgium.

The risk variants are being monitored more intensively by the WHO and global laboratories, and in addition to the omicron variant there are four others: alpha (first detected in the United Kingdom), beta (also in South Africa), gamma (Brazil) and delta (India).

These variants are usually associated with a higher transmission speed, although in recent months the delta variant, more contagious than the three previously detected, has become the dominant one, to the point that in the latest laboratory analyses it appears to be present in 99.8% of new global cases.

The WHO advisory group did not issue new recommendations on travel restrictions or other preventive health measures, but it did ask the international scientific community to continue monitoring this and new variants.

In addition, at an individual level, we are reminded of the measures already known to be taken against previous variants, which include the use of masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, good indoor ventilation, avoiding crowded places and the same anti-Covid vaccination.

EFE

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