On Tuesday, the WHO warned that Omicron cases have been increasing and the virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate and asked countries to take action, while Pfizer said that their coronavirus tablet was effective against the version.
As Europe battles a new wave of infections and hospital admissions, Dutch primary schools will close early, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a crucial parliamentary test in his attempt to impose new Covid restrictions.
Omicron was discovered by South Africa and notified to the WHO on November 24. It possesses a huge number of mutations, which has raised anxiety since its discovery.
Early evidence suggests it may be vaccine resistant and more transmissible than the Delta form, which was first discovered in India and accounts for the majority of coronavirus cases worldwide.
The strain had been reported in 77 countries, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and had “probably” spread undetected to most countries “at a rate we have not seen with any previous variety.”
In the United States, Omicron currently accounts for about 3% of cases, a rate that is likely to swiftly climb, as it has in other nations.
According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, the United States is the country hardest afflicted by the pandemic, with 800,000 known Covid-19 deaths as of Tuesday.
Although Britain reported the world’s first Omicron death on Monday, there is still no confirmation that the variation causes more serious illness.
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed cautious hope on Tuesday, noting that Africa had seen a large increase in cases over the past week but fewer deaths than in prior waves.
However, it advised governments to act quickly to stop the spread of the virus, defend their health systems, and avoid complacency.
Bruce Aylward, a WHO expert, cautioned against “coming to the idea that this is a benign condition.”
“We might be putting ourselves in a perilous scenario.”
Pfizer said on Tuesday that clinical trials of its Covid tablet decreased hospital admissions and fatalities among at-risk persons by over 90% among at-risk adults.
Paxlovid, a new medicine developed by the American pharmaceutical company, outperformed Omicron in lab tests, according to the company.
The news, according to CEO Albert Bourla, is a “game changer,” and he expects approval from the US drugs authority as soon as this month.
“This news gives us another potentially strong instrument in our fight against the virus, especially the Omicron version,” US Vice President Joe Biden remarked.
Two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were found to be 70% effective in preventing severe Omicron disease in real-world research from South Africa.
Researchers hailed the findings as encouraging, despite the fact that they were a drop from earlier strains, highlighting the coronavirus’s threat.
The WHO also stated that poor vaccination rates in areas such as Africa, where Omicron was initially discovered, will serve as breeding grounds for new strains of the virus, which has claimed the lives of over 5.3 million people worldwide.
Europe is the world’s coronavirus hotspot, accounting for 62% of all cases in the last seven days, and the five countries with the highest infection rates are all European.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that primary schools will close next week and a night-time lockdown will be prolonged due to Omicron worries, following the lead of other European countries.
Because of worries that children, who have the greatest infection rates, may pass it on to elderly relatives, schools will close on December 20 instead of December 25.
63,405 new coronavirus cases were reported in France on Tuesday, the highest daily number since April, despite the fact that more than 77 percent of the country’s population had received at least one vaccination.
In neighboring Britain, the ruling Conservative government faced a huge parliamentary rebellion on Tuesday, when nearly 100 of its MPs voted against tighter restrictions imposed in response to Omicron.
In England, Boris Johnson’s administration will implement new mask-wearing regulations, daily testing to avoid isolation, and immunization passes for certain situations.
Many members of his own party, however, believe the measures, which were only passed with opposition backing, are excessive and threaten core freedoms.
Scientists estimate that the true number of people infected with Omicron in the UK could be as high as 200,000 each day, and the English Premier League has recorded a record number of cases, threatening significant match disruption.
