Geneva: The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the new Omicron variant of coronavirus has been confirmed in 23 countries and their number is expected to rise in coming days. Tedros stated at a press briefing that the emergence of the Omicron variant has justifiably captured the global attention.
‘At least 23 countries from five of six WHO regions have now reported cases of Omicron and we expect that number to grow. WHO takes this development extremely seriously, and so should every country. But it should not surprise us. This is what viruses do. And it’s what this virus will continue to do, as long as we allow it to continue spreading’, Tedros said during a press conference.
Tedros added that WHO is learning more all the time about Omicron, but still there are more facts to be understood about its effect on transmission, the severity of disease, and the effectiveness of tests, therapeutics and vaccines. ‘Several WHO advisory groups have met over the last couple of days to evaluate the emerging evidence, and prioritise the studies needed to answer these questions’, he added.
Also read: Omicron threat: India postpones resumption of scheduled international flights from Dec 15
In a statement made on Tuesday, the WHO Director-General had noted that it was ‘deeply concerning’ that Botswana and South Africa, where the new variant was identified first, were ‘being penalized by other nations for doing the right thing’. He also criticized the ‘blunt’ ?and ‘blanket’ measures taken by countries in the past few days to stop the spread of the Omicron variant. Travel restrictions were imposed by dozens of countries on the southern African nations, since the deadly mutation was discovered at the end of last week.
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