Very Dangerous Phase: WHO Warns Rising Omicron Cases Could Lead To More Dangerous Variants

Even as the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than expected initially and given hopes that the pandemic could be overcome.

Omicron variant | Stock Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: The pandemic is giving way to new fears and worries every day. Now, the rising cases of Omicron variant across the world could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging, the World Health Organization in Europe warned on Tuesday.

Even as the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than expected initially and given hopes that the pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality.

READ: Omicron Cases Tally Over 2100, Daily Covid Positivity Rate Stands At 4.18%

WHO senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood has come out with a cautious note saying that the soaring infection rates could have the opposite effect, according to the AFP report.

What is the risk projected by WHO?

In an interview with AFP, Smallwood said, "The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant. Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death ... maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who's to say what the next variant might throw out,".

"We're in a very dangerous phase, we're seeing infection rates rise very significantly in Western Europe, and the full impact of that is not yet clear," she said.

Smallwood also stressed that while "on an individual level there's probably a decreased risk of hospitalisation" with the Omicron variant compared to Delta, overall, Omicron could pose a greater threat because of the sheer number of cases.

"When you see the cases rise so significantly, that's likely to generate a lot more people with severe disease, ending up in the hospital and possibly going on to die," she said.

On the other hand, Britain on British hospitals on Tuesday switched to a "war footing" due to staff shortages caused by a wave of Omicron infections, as the country's daily Covid caseload breached 200,000 for the first time.

Smallwood said a likely scenario may play out in other European countries as well.

Since the pandemic broke, Europe has recorded more than 100 million Covid cases. It has logged in more than five million new cases in the last week of 2021, "almost dwarfing what we have seen in the past", Smallwood said.