New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday said that the Omicron variant has been found in 38 countries, although no deaths have been reported as authorities around the world are trying to halt the spread of the significantly mutated Covid-19 strain amid worries that it might harm the global economic recovery.
As Omicron infections pushed South Africa's overall case count beyond three million, the United States and Australia became the latest nations to confirm locally transmitted instances of the variation.
WHO has cautioned that determining how contagious the variety is, whether it causes more serious illness, and how effective medicines and immunizations are against it might take weeks.
"We're going to get the answers that everybody out there needs," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan was quoted by AFP in its report.
The WHO stated on Friday that it has not received any reports of Omicron-related deaths, but the new variant's spread has prompted fears that it might cause more than half of Europe's Covid cases in the coming months.
The new variant, like the Delta strain, might hinder global economic recovery, according to International Monetary Fund president Kristalina Georgieva on Friday.
"Even before the arrival of this new variant, we were concerned that the recovery, while it continues, is losing somewhat momentum. A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence," she said.
Omicron Variant Is Three Times More Likely To Induce Reinfections
According to early data from South African experts, where the variant was initially detected on November 24, it is three times more likely to induce reinfections than the Delta or Beta variants.
According to Red Cross chief Francesca Rocca, the appearance of Omicron was the "final indication" of the dangers of uneven worldwide immunisation rates.
South African physicians said there had been an increase in the number of children under the age of five brought to hospitals since the discovery of Omicron, but it was too early to tell if young children were particularly vulnerable.
"The incidence in those under-fives is now second-highest, and second only to the incidence in those over 60," Wassila Jassat from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said.
Omicron variant spreading in countries
Two instances in the United States were people who had no recent foreign travel history, indicating that Omicron is already spreading in America
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden revealed his measures to combat Covid-19 throughout the winter, including additional testing criteria for travellers and an increase in immunisation efforts.
All inbound passengers must test negative within a day of their flights, and $25 rapid tests will be reimbursed by insurance and supplied for free to the uninsured.
Despite a prohibition on non-citizens entering the nation and limitations on flights from South Africa, Australia said three students in Sydney had tested positive for the variant on Friday, with many countries moving to curtail travel from the region in the previous week.
In Norway, according to municipal health official Tine Ravlo, at least 13 persons who got Covid-19 at an office Christmas party in Oslo last week had the Omicron form, albeit they have only had minor symptoms so far.
However, once reports of the cluster arose, the authorities imposed limits throughout greater Oslo.
Malaysia also reported a first Omicron infection in a foreign student who arrived from South Africa on November 19. Sri Lanka recently announced its first case, involving a South African citizen coming home.
Meanwhile, Russia's official statistics office Rosstat said that about 75,000 people died in the nation from coronavirus in October, making it the bloodiest month of the pandemic.
(With inputs from Agencies)