Geneva: The World Health Organisation has said it is “not yet clear” whether the newly-detected coronavirus variant Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant.
“There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants,” the WHO said.It added that initial reported infections were among university studies – younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease – but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.
Amid concerns over the detection and transmissibility of B.1.1.529, designated by the WHO as a “variant of concern”, the global health organisation said on Sunday that even as researchers in South Africa and around the world are conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicron and will continue to share the findings of these studies as they become available, “it is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible (eg more easily spreads from person to person) compared to other variants, including Delta”.
