WHO Warns Countries Against Referring to Omicron as 'Mild'
World Health Organisation has warned countries referring to the Omicron variant as mild because of the rate at which it is spreading and killing people across the world.
This follows a recent study that shows that Omicron is less severe compared to the covid 19 variant.
WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a regular press briefing on Thursday, revealed that, last week had the highest number of covid 19 cases in the pandemic.
“While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorized as mild,” said Dr. Tedros
"Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalizing people and it is killing people.
"In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world."
According to the United nations weekly report, all regions across the world reported a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections with the largest increase (100%) observed in the Americas, followed by South-East Asia (78%) and Europe (65%).
On Thursday, Kenya reported a surge in new infections with the health ministry announcing that 2,336 people tested positive for the disease, from a sample size of 10,558 tested in the last 24 hours.
A total of 1,176 patients are currently admitted to various health facilities countrywide while 25,024 are under the Home-Based Isolation and Care program, so far confirmed positive cases are now 306,686.
In his latest comments, Dr. Tedros repeated his calls for greater vaccine distribution to help poorer countries jab their populations.
He said that, based on the current vaccine rollout, 109 countries will miss the WHO's target for 70% of the world to be fully vaccinated by July.
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