The number of registered Omikron cases is now increasing rapidly in Germany as well.
As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Tuesday, we now have 10,443 cases for the first time, a five-digit total number of infections with this variant of the corona virus.
This corresponds to an increase of 45 percent compared to the previous day – and an increase of 3218 cases. According to the RKI, there have been four deaths in connection with an Omicron infection.
Four people have died of Omikron so far, including three people from the age group 60 to 79 years and one person from the age group 35 to 59 years.
Information was provided of 124 cases that they were being admitted to the hospital. In 148 there was information that it was a reinfection – i.e. an infection despite previous corona infection. It is expected that Omikron will soon be the predominant variant in Germany, as in other countries.
WHO warns against many admissions
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns of “a large number of hospital admissions” because of the Omikron variant in Europe. This is simply the case due to the expected mass of infections, according to a spokeswoman. According to her, people who have not been vaccinated in particular will be affected.
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Preliminary data from the countries initially affected in Europe, England, Scotland and Denmark, indicate that Omikron causes less severe Covid-19 diseases than the previously dominant variants of the coronavirus, said WHO Europe Director Catherine Smallwood. However, these evaluations should be viewed “with caution”.
The observed cases are mainly “young people in good health in countries with a high vaccination rate,” explained the WHO expert. “We do not yet know the effects of Omikron on the most vulnerable groups: older people who have not yet been fully vaccinated.”
Omikron could be resistant to current antibodies
According to researchers from Göttingen, the Omikron variant is largely resistant to current antibodies. The University of Göttingen and the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen announced that a new study shows that antibodies from recovered persons barely inhibited the omicron variant.
“Our results indicate that the antibody therapies for Covid-19 must be adapted to the Omikron variant,” said study leader Stefan Pohlmann.
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