Omicron continues to sweep the world, causing hospitalisations and deaths: WHO Chief 

The Omicron variant of coronavirus is leading a surge in Covid-19 cases across the world and is causing hospitalisations and deaths, impacting already overburdened health systems, according to World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Omicron continues to sweep the world, Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Tuesday, adding that more than 18 million cases were reported last week.

“The number of deaths remains stable for the moment but we are concerned about the impact Omicron is having on already exhausted health workers and overburdened health systems,” the WHO Chief said.

According to Ghebreyesus, though cases have already peaked in some countries giving hope that the worst of this latest wave is over, no country is out of the woods yet.

“I remain particularly concerned about many countries that have low vaccination rates, as people are many times more at risk of severe illness and death if they’re unvaccinated,” he said.

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“Omicron may be less severe, on average of course, but the narrative that it is mild disease is misleading, hurts the overall response and costs more lives. Make no mistake, Omicron is causing hospitalisations and deaths, and even the less severe cases are inundating health facilities,” he said.

“The virus is circulating far too intensely with many still vulnerable. For many countries, the next few weeks remain really critical for health workers and health systems,” he added.

Also, the WHO Chief urged people to reduce the risk of infection.

“We can still significantly reduce the impact of the current wave by sharing and using health tools effectively and implementing public health and social measures that we know work,” he said.

He further emphasised the need for vaccinating the unvaccinated.

“Vaccines may be less effective at preventing infection and transmission of Omicron than they were for previous variants, but they still are exceptionally good at preventing serious disease and death. This is key to protecting hospitals from becoming overwhelmed,” he said.

Tracking new variants

Ghebreyesus further talked about tracking new variants, adding that over 7 million whole genome sequences from 180 countries have now been submitted to GISAID, which was initially set up to track flu.

“This pandemic is nowhere near over and with the incredible growth of Omicron globally, new variants are likely to emerge, which is why tracking and assessment remain critical,” he said.

New formulations of vaccines are being developed and assessed for how they perform against Omicron and other strains,” he added, pointing towards the need for vaccine equity. 

“The pandemic will remain at the forefront, particularly how to more effectively share tests, treatments and vaccines equitably and to meet the 70 per cent vaccine target by July 2022,” Ghebreyesus said.

“However, the impact of the pandemic on other health issues has also been devastating and Member States will be discussing how we can stop the backsliding and recover together,” he added.

The WHO Executive Board, which is made up of 34 Member States, will meet next week to discuss the world’s health challenges.

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