WHO Chief Says Omicron Not Mild, Hospitalizing People

Omicron is hospitalizing and killing people. The first-generation vaccines may not stop all infections and transmission, but they remain highly effective in reducing hospitalization.

Omicron is hospitalizing and killing people, said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world, he stressed.

India Records 495 New Omicron Cases
In India, the Omicron tally rose to 2,630 after 495 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra tops the list with 797 Omicron cases, of which 330 patients have been discharged.

‘The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 57,649,131 and 832,061, according to the CSSE. The second worst-hit country in terms of cases is India (35,018,358 infections and 482,551 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,328,252 infections and 619,654 deaths).’

"Hospitals are becoming overcrowded and understaffed, which further results in preventable deaths from not only COVID-19 but other diseases and injuries where patients cannot receive timely care," said Ghebreyesus.

According to him, first-generation vaccines may not stop all infections and transmission, but they remain highly effective in reducing hospitalization and death from this virus.

"So as well as vaccination, public health social measures, including the wearing of well-fitting masks, distancing, avoiding crowds and improving and investing in ventilation are important for limiting transmission," he stressed.

Covid-19 Vaccines Effective Against Severe Omicron
Existing Covid-19 vaccines can fight against the Omicron Covid variant. Therefore, get yourself vaccinated and be safe.

At the current pace of vaccine rollout, 109 countries would miss out on fully vaccinating 70 percent of their populations by the start of July 2022.

Last week, the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported so far in the pandemic.

WHO Warns Omicron Is Not Common Cold
The new COVID-19 variant Omicron is not a common cold and should not be taken lightly, warned WHO. The four most common symptoms of the Omicron variant are cough, fatigue, congestion, and runny nose.

"And we know, for certain, that this is an underestimate of cases because reported numbers do not reflect the backlog of testing around the holidays, the number of positive self-tests not registered, and burdened surveillance systems that miss cases around the world," said the WHO Director-General.

Amid an ongoing resurgence across the world, the global coronavirus caseload has topped 297 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.46 million and vaccinations to over 9.27 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

New COVID-19�s Omicron Symptoms Have Been Discovered
A new study found two symptoms that are not usually associated with COVID-19 in the Omicron variant.

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 297,504,250 and 5,464,532, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,279,347,173.

Source-IANS