The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that all countries should be prepared for the rise of coronavirus infections from the new Omicron variant.
WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. Takeshi Kasai said that the number of victims of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 from different countries is increasing day by day.
He says the news we are receiving at the moment is that the real picture is even wider - "geographically it has already spread far and wide."
Dr. Kasai has asked all countries to be prepared for the possibility of a new wave of corona infection from the Omicron variant. He said the lessons we have learned to prevent the Delta variant must be used to combat this new variant.
Research on Omicron
The WHO also said that a country can only delay the entry of the variant by banning travel, but it will not be able to prevent it at all.
Dr. Babatunde Olukoure, the organization's emergency regional director, said the WORLD Health Organization is currently working in conjunction with a large number of research organizations to understand the dynamics of the Omicron variant. So far, however, they have not received any information that requires new guidance at the moment to deal with the epidemic.
The agency said that each country should strengthen its current measures, taking into account its own risks, such as: wearing a mask, maintaining distance, washing hands, avoiding public gatherings, tracing infected people, isolating infected people, and continuing vaccinations.
Dr. Kasai also stressed taking appropriate action by assessing the risks of keeping schools open.
Last week, Omicron was declared an "alarming variant."
This type of virus is believed to be spreading faster than previous variants. However, there is still no clear idea how effective the current vaccine will be in preventing this variant.
Unprecedented infections in South Africa
Health officials in South Africa say coronavirus infections are on the rise in the country due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant.
Just two weeks ago, where the number of daily detections was slightly more than three hundred on average, the number of new Covid-19 detections per day stands at more than 11,500.
Public health authorities say this fourth wave of the epidemic has turned more deadly than ever before. Unprecedented levels of infection are on the rise, but they say they have not yet found evidence that Omicron is more lethal than previous variants.
The country's health minister, Joe Fahla, has requested the public to get vaccinated.
BBC correspondent Pumaza Filhani from Johannesburg reports that in The Country's Gauteng province, where the number of victims is highest, more children under the age of five have had to be hospitalized than in previous waves.
Scientists say they are researching what causes it.
New symptoms of Omicron
Scientists in different countries are conducting a variety of research on this new variant.
Some of these indicate that this variant has somewhat different symptoms from the Delta variant.
Omicron is showing some symptoms of pain, but there are no signs of loss of taste or smell. However, scientists say they are not yet willing to give a definite opinion on this.
At the moment, the World Health Organization suggests that scientists are yet to find evidence that the symptoms of Omicron are very different from those of other variants of Covid-19.
As a result, fresh cough, fever, and loss of taste and smell are still cited as the three main symptoms of Covid infection.
The agency said it was already looking into the plight of people under the age of five in South Africa.
