Omicron is 'killing people' and should not be called 'mild', WHO warns
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Thursday against describing the Omicron variant as "mild" amid a "tsunami of cases" overwhelming health systems across the world.
"Last week, the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported so far in the pandemic," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters during a regular press briefing.
The UN agency's latest weekly report showed that a record 9.5 million COVID-19 infections were reported across the world over the previous week — a 71% increase on the previous seven-day period.
All regions 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%).
Yet, the WHO chief stressed that "we know, for certain, that this is an underestimate of cases because reported numbers do not reflect the backlog of testing around the holidays, the number of positive self-tests not registered, and burdened surveillance systems that miss cases around the world."
Omicron, first detected in South Africa in November, has been blamed for the latest wave. The variant was designated "of concern" by the WHO because studies show it is more transmissible and more resistant to treatment than other variants, including Delta, with people more likely to be infected or reinfected even when fully vaccinated.
Dr Tedros warned that "while Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as 'mild'."
"Just like previous variants; Omicron is hospitalising people and it is killing people," he stressed.
There were 41,000 lives lost to the disease last week — a 10% week-on-week rise — bringing the pandemic's total death
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