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Tag: Omicron Variant

  • No Reports Of Deaths From Omicron Variant Yet – WHO

    No Reports Of Deaths From Omicron Variant Yet – WHO

    The World Health Organization said Friday it had not seen any reports of deaths relating to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

    The WHO said it was collecting evidence about the variant of concern (VOC), as countries around the world scramble to stop it from spreading.

    But despite a growing number of countries registering infections with the new variant, no deaths have yet been reported to the UN health agency.

    “I have not seen reports of Omicron-related deaths yet,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

    “We’re collecting all the evidence and we will find much more evidence as we go along.

    “The more countries… keep testing people, and looking specifically into the Omicron variant, we will also find more cases, more information, and, hopefully not, but also possibly deaths.”

    While Omicron has rattled the world, Lindmeier also urged people to be mindful of the Delta variant, which accounts for 99.8 percent of sequences uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative with specimens collected in the last 60 days.

    “Omicron may be on the rise, and we may come to a point where it takes over to be the dominant variant, but at this point, the very dominant variant remains Delta,” he stressed.

    Lindmeier added: “The restrictions that were put into place in many countries just two weeks ago — economical closures again, lockdowns in some areas, closures of Christmas markets in parts of Europe — this was done before Omicron because of a rise of Delta cases. Let’s not lose sight of this.”

    The spokesman urged people to use proven measures to protect themselves against Delta — and thereby against Omicron.

    The WHO has said it will take several weeks to get a full picture of the transmissibility and disease severity of Omicron and to assess how vaccines, tests, and treatments hold up against the new variant.

    As Omicron spreads, pieces of information are emerging from various countries.

    “What we need to do is we need to take all these observations, assessments and tests and get this information together and then have the experts look at it, carefully weigh it and come up with the assessment. That will still take some time,” said Lindmeier.

    “Preliminary data show that there is higher transmissibility. But that’s basically all we have so far.”

    AFP

  • Omicron Variant: Travel Ban Discriminatory, Ramaphosa Hits Western Leaders

    Omicron Variant: Travel Ban Discriminatory, Ramaphosa Hits Western Leaders

    President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has said the travel ban imposed by some western countries over the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant is discriminatory and unproductive in the long run.

    At the last count, 10 countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, have been banned over the new COVID variant, which was first reported on the continent.

    Among those who have imposed the ban are the UK, US, and EU.

    During a joint press conference with President Muhammadu Buhari at the end of the 10th Session of Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) held in Abuja, Ramaphosa thanked the leaders of Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal for expressing their dissatisfaction with the travel ban imposed on South Africa and sister neighbouring countries.

    “I think it is important that I emphasise this in the light of the discovery by South African scientists of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus and subsequent imposition of extremely harsh and unfair travel restrictions on flights from and to South Africa as well as on a number of other African countries.”

    “President Buhari, the solidarity expressed by yourself and the Government of Nigeria sends the strongest message. It says that as African countries, we are standing united against the imposition of arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions that are not only unscientific, but counterproductive in the long run.

    “Indeed, the leaders of Cote d’Ivoire where we are traveling to later today, as well as the leaders of Ghana and Senegal, have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the travel ban against South Africa and our sister countries in southern Africa.

    “This is a global pandemic. And overcoming it requires that we collaborate and work together as a collective. The resulting damage to this travel ban to the economies of the countries affected will be considerable and long lasting.

    “So, I want to use this opportunity to once again call on the countries who have imposed this ban to reverse their decisions, whether they are in the northern, more developed economies or in other parts of our continent and elsewhere,” he said.

  • Omicron Variant hits Saudi Arabia, first reported case in Arab world

    Omicron Variant hits Saudi Arabia, first reported case in Arab world

    Saudi Arabia on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

    The announcement is the first to be reported in the Arab world.

    The case was detected in a Saudi man who returned from a North African nation.

    State news agency, SPA broke the news, citing a Health Ministry official, but did not name that country.

    Saudi Arabia had banned flights to and from several African countries.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns about the new variant.

    Omicron could evade the body’s immune response and make it more transmissible.

  • NCDC Confirms Three Cases Of Omicron COVID Variant In Nigeria

    NCDC Confirms Three Cases Of Omicron COVID Variant In Nigeria

    The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced the detection of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Nigeria.

    According to a statement by Ifedayo Adetifa, the NCDC director-general, the variant was detected in two Nigerians who arrived in the country last week.

    The agency, however, said the two cases are asymptomatic, and that contact tracing has begun.

    “In line with the routine travel test required of all international travelers and genomic sequencing at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its National Reference Laboratory (NRL), Abuja -confirmed Nigeria’s first case of the Omicron variant, also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage,” the statement reads.

    “Genomic sequencing of positive cases from routine day two test for all travelers to Nigeria identified two cases of Omicron variant among travelers from South Africa who arrived in Nigeria in the last week.

    “Retrospective sequencing of the previously confirmed cases among travellers to Nigeria also identified the Omicron variant among the sample collected in October 2021.

    “The two recent cases though asymptomatic have been linked to clinical care and other response activities which include contact tracing have commenced. Arrangements have been made to notify their country of origin to commence in country response.”

    In a subsequent statement, the NCDC said three cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have now been detected in the country.

    “Genomic surveillance has now identified and confirmed Nigeria’s first cases of the B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, now known as the Omicron variant. Samples obtained for the stipulated day two test for all travellers to Nigeria were positive for this variant in three persons with a history of travel to South Africa,” the statement reads.

    The index case of Omicron was detected in South Africa last Tuesday, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had subsequently designated Omicron as a “variant of concern”, calling on global leaders to take action to contain its spread.

    The variant has already been detected in many countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong.

    On Sunday, Canada has reported two cases of Omicron in individuals who had recently travelled to Nigeria.