According to the World Health Organization, determining if Omicron is more transmissible and causes more serious infections, as well as how effective current therapies and vaccinations are against it, might take weeks.
United States of America, Washington:
Officials in the United States and Australia reported the first locally transmitted instances of the Omicron variation on Friday, as authorities around the world sought to stop the spread of the significantly altered Covid-19 strain.
According to the World Health Organization, determining if Omicron is more transmissible and causes more serious infections, as well as how effective current therapies and vaccinations are against it, might take weeks.
However, the new version, which was first recorded in South Africa, has already cast doubt on the global recovery, with the EU health agency warned that it could be responsible for more than half of Europe’s Corona cases in the coming months.
More than a half-dozen governments have now confirmed cases of the variation, including India, which has been the toughest hit by the covid pandemic since it began over two years ago.
According to a preliminary study conducted by South African experts, the strain is three times more likely than the Delta or Beta strains to induce reinfections.
Michael Head described the findings, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, as “extremely worrying.”
So far, ten cases have been confirmed in the United States, including five in New York, one in L.A County, and one in Hawaii, all of which were revealed on Thursday.
Both the Hawaii and Minnesota cases were residents who had no recent international travel history, indicating that the strain is already spreading across the country.
The Hawaii Health Department stated, “This is a case of community spread.”
The cases were announced as US President Joe Biden presented his measures to combat Covid-19 this winter, including additional traveller testing requirements and increased immunisation efforts.
“It’s a proposal that I believe will bring us together,” he remarked.
Incoming travellers will need to test negative within a day of flying, and fast tests, which presently cost $25, will be funded by insurance and supplied free to the uninsured.
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