High Spread Of Omicron Could Increase The Risk Of A Newer, More Dangerous Variant: WHO

On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that emerging surge in cases of Omicron around the world can increase the risk of a newer and more dangerous variant in Europe. The omicron variant is highly transmissible worldwide but it appears to be much less severe than people were scared about earlier. This has led to high hopes that the Covid-19 pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality. Read further to know more about what WHO senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood said on an ominous note of caution.

Smallwood told AFP in an interview, "The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant. Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death ... maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who's to say what the next variant might throw out." Europe has reported more than 100 million Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than five million fresh cases in the last week of year 2021, "almost dwarfing what we have seen in the past", Smallwood added.

"We're in a very dangerous phase, we're seeing infection rates rise very significantly in Western Europe, and the full impact of that is not yet clear," she said. Smallwood also mentioned that while "on an individual level there's probably a decreased risk of hospitalisation" with Omicron as compared to the Delta variant. However, Omicron can be a bigger threat because of the spike in number of postive cases. "When you see the cases rise so significantly, that's likely to generate a lot more people with severe disease, ending up in hospital and possibly going on to die," she said.

Also read: COVID-19: Is Omicron Deadlier Than Other Variants? Everything About New VOC

Smallwood further added saying, "Even in well-capacitated, sophisticated health systems there are real struggles that are happening at the moment, and it's likely that these will play out across the region as Omicron drives cases upwards." Many experts and leaders have declared the current situation as third wave which can be difficult to control but will not be as severe as the second wave of Coronavirus. It is best to follow Covid appropriate behaviour and stay at home as much as possible.