WORLD

WHO Warns Of “Tsunami Of Cases” From Omicron &Delta Variants

By Our Special Correspondent

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the Omicron and Delta variants of coronavirus could produce a “tsunami of cases” of covid-19, which will put “immense pressure” on healthcare systems. “I am highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible and circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases”, WHO Director General Mr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on December29, 2021. He also said that it would put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems (pushing them on) to the brink of collapse.”

As 92 of the WHO’s 194 member countries missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations by the end of 2021, Mr. Tedros urged everyone to make a “New Year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July 2022. According to the WHO’s figures, the number of Covid-19 cases worldwide increased by 11% in the last but one week of December 2021 compared to the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million new cases reported between December 20 and 26, 2021. New cases in Europe, which accounted for more than half of the total, were up 3% while in the Americas it rose by 39% and in Africa by 7%. The global gain followed a gradual increase since October 2021.

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to Omicron “remains very high”. It cited “consistent evidence” that the Omicron has a growth advantage over the Delta variant. It noted that a decline in case incidence had been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the United Kingdom and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with Omicron but said more data was needed. Mr. Tedros criticised the attitude of richer countries, accusing them of hogging the vaccines to combat Covid-19 and leaving the back door open for the virus. He also said that disinformation had been a constant distraction that hampered efforts to beat the pandemic. He lamented that while there were 18 lakh recorded deaths in 2020, it rose to 35 lakh in 2021; and the actual and real number could be much higher.

Earlier, on December 18, 2021, the WHO had said that the Omicron variant of coronavirus had reached 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission. “Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity, but it is unclear if this is due to the virus” ability to evade immunity, its inherent increase transmissibility or a combination of both,” it said.