The emergence of Omicron was the \u201cultimate evidence\u201d of the danger of unequal global vaccination rates, Red Cross head Francesca Rocca said
\n GENEVA
\nThe omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries but no deaths have yet been reported, the WHO said on Friday, as authorities worldwide rushed to stem the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain\u2019s spread amid warnings that it could damage the global economic recovery.
\nThe United States and Australia became the latest countries to confirm locally transmitted cases of the variant, as omicron infections pushed South Africa\u2019s total cases past three million.
\nThe World Health Organization has warned it could take weeks to determine how infectious the variant is, whether it causes more severe illness and how effective treatments and vaccines are against it.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to get the answers that everybody out there needs,\u201d WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said.
\nThe WHO said on Friday it had still not seen any reports of deaths related to omicron, but the new variant\u2019s spread has led to warnings that it could cause more than half of Europe\u2019s Covid cases in the next few months.
\nThe new variant could also slow global economic recovery, just as the Delta strain did, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.
\n\u201cEven before the arrival of this new variant, we were concerned that the recovery, while it continues, is losing somewhat momentum,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cA new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence.\u201d
\nA preliminary study by researchers in South Africa, where the variant was first reported on November 24, suggests it is three times more likely to cause reinfections compared to the Delta or Beta strains.
\nThe emergence of omicron was the \u201cultimate evidence\u201d of the danger of unequal global vaccination rates, Red Cross head Francesca Rocca said.
\nSouth African doctors said there had been a spike in children under five admitted to hospital since omicron emerged, but stressed it was too early to know if young children were particularly susceptible.
\n\u201cThe incidence in those under-fives is now second-highest, and second only to the incidence in those over 60,\u201d said Wassila Jassat from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
\nIn the US, two cases involved residents with no recent international travel history \u2014 showing omicron is already circulating inside the country.
\n\u201cThis is a case of community spread,\u201d the Hawaii Health Department said.
\nUS President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled his plans to battle Covid-19 during the winter, with new testing requirements for travelers and a surge in vaccination efforts.
\nAll incoming travelers will need to test negative within a day of their flights, and rapid tests that cost $25 will be covered by insurance and distributed free to the uninsured.
\nAustralia on Friday reported three students in Sydney had tested positive for the variant, despite a ban on non-citizens entering the country and restrictions on flights from southern Africa, with multiple countries rushing to limit travel from the region in the past week.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s quite a kick in the nuts,\u201d said Sabine Stam, who runs a South African tour company and whose customers are demanding refunds. \u201cEveryone is too scared to set a new travel date,\u201d she said.
\nIn Norway, officials said at least 13 people who contracted Covid-19 after an office Christmas party in Oslo last week had the omicron variant \u2014 though so far they have only had mild symptoms, city health official Tine Ravlo told AFP.
\nBut the government ushered in restrictions in greater Oslo after fears of the cluster surfaced.
\nOn Friday, Malaysia also reported a first omicron infection in a foreign student arriving from South Africa on November 19. Sri Lanka also announced its first case, a citizen returning from South Africa.
\nRussia\u2019s federal statistics agency Rosstat, meanwhile, said that nearly 75,000 people died of coronavirus in the country in October, making it the deadliest month of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The new variant poses a major challenge to ending the pandemic.
\nRising Delta cases had already forced European governments to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing, curfews or lockdowns, leaving businesses fearing another grim Christmas.
\nBelgian authorities said on Friday that primary schools would close a week early for the Christmas holidays.
\nGermany\u2019s regional leaders agreed new measures including a ban on fireworks at new year parties to discourage large gatherings.
\nIreland said it will close nightclubs and reintroduce social distancing in some settings over Christmas and the New Year.
\nIn the UK, ministers have been expressing divergent opinions, not only on the idea of hosting parties, but also on the kind of conduct deemed acceptable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The emergence of Omicron was the \u201cultimate evidence\u201d of the danger of unequal global vaccination rates, Red Cross head Francesca Rocca said GENEVA The omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries but no deaths have yet been reported, the WHO said on Friday, as authorities worldwide rushed to stem the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-231011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n