Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to be a less severe disease than the Delta strain, but it does not mean it should be categorized as “mild”,
WHO director-general said that the Omicron variant is hospitalizing people and it is killing people, just like previous ones.
Addressing a press briefing today, the WHO director-general said that at present, 109 countries would miss out on fully vaccinating 70 per cent of their populations by the start of July 2022.
The head of global health body further said that last week, the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported so far in the pandemic, while Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorized as “mild”. He added that the Omicron variant is hospitalizing people and it is killing people, just like previous ones.
Meanwhile, a new coronavirus variant B.1.640.2 also known as IHU variant has been detected in a traveller returning from Cameroon, according to the hospital IHU Mediterrannee in Marseille, France. The traveller has reportedly infected 12 people in Southern France.
