Story at a glance
- The omicron variant is spreading faster than previous variants, the World Health Organization announced earlier this week.
- The virus has already appeared in 77 countries since it was first found in South Africa in November.
- Even if the variant causes milder illness, the virus’s ability to spread quickly could potentially overwhelm unprepared hospitals.
The coronavirus’s omicron variant could “out compete” the delta variant and worsen the pandemic in the United States, according to reporting from Stat News.
“It is more likely than not, at this point, that omicron is going to dominate Delta systematically across regions and countries,” Jacob Lemieux, an infectious diseases physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Stat News. “We need to be prepared for the possibility that Omicron is going to cause a significant outbreak, not just in isolated locations, but elsewhere, including here.”
Omicron is spreading faster than previous variants of the novel coronavirus with the virus now in at least 77 countries since it first appeared in South Africa last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday.
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But WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added that the variant is most likely in every country even if it has not been detected yet. Early data from South Africa suggests that the omicron variant causes less severe illness than other earlier variants but the virus is more resistant to Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine, according to The Washington Post.
People should still take extra precautions to protect themselves from the virus like getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and keeping good hand hygiene, according to Ghebreyesus.
“We’re concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril,” Ghebreyesus. “Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems…vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis.Countries can – and must – prevent the spread of Omicron with measures that work today.It’s not vaccines instead of masks.It’s not vaccines instead of distancing.It’s not vaccines instead of ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all. Do it consistently. Do it well.”
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