The peak incidence of the Omicron coronavirus in the world may be just a few weeks away. Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency program, told reporters at a briefing on December 14.
“Where this subvariant was identified, there was a rapid spread of the virus, with a large number of cases being detected. So I guess we have a few weeks before we peak. But this time is still enough to get ready, ”he said.
The head of the emergency program also recalled that vaccination is one of the most effective measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier on Tuesday, WHO said it expected an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to the Omicron strain.
On December 13, the UK reported the first death of a patient with the identified Omicron strain. Commenting on this information, the WHO indicated that many countries do not yet have the capacity to consistently analyze samples of all deaths or infections with a new strain, so it is difficult to provide accurate data on the actual number of deaths due to Omicron.
On November 26, WHO designated the B.1.1.529 strain, found in southern Africa, with the Greek letter omicron. The WHO statement also said that this variant of the coronavirus has a large number of mutations, some of which are of concern.