WHO Says No Omicron Deaths Yet as Variant Spreads Worldwide, Detected in 38 Countries2Photo© india.com

WHO Says No Omicron Deaths Yet as Variant Spreads Worldwide, Detected in 38 Countries

, 11 news, a view

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’s spread amid warnings that it could damage the global economic recovery.

The United States and Australia became the latest countries to confirm locally transmitted cases of the variant, as Omicron infections pushed South Africa’s total cases past three million.

The 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. “We’re going to get the answers that everybody out there needs," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said.