Dismissing all the rumours, the World Health Organization on Thursday said Omicron is killing people and should not be taken as mild.
The number of infections with Omicron is outnumbering the infections with Delta variant in many countries, said the WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as mild,” he said in a press conference.
“Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising people and it is killing people,” he asserted.
“In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world,” he added.
Last week the number of Covid-19 cases reported to WHO were under 9.5 million, which were 71% higher than a week before.
He said, but even these cases were not the complete ones as the testing of around Christmas and New Year holidays and the self-tests were not taken into account.
While the WHO’s Covid-19 technical head Maria Van Kerkhove said it is not likely that the Omicron is the last variant of concern before the pandemic ends.
As the Omicron is rising, she asked people to take all the precautionary measures to curb the spread of the virus as they were doing before.
“Do everything that we have been advising better, more comprehensively, more purposefully,” said Maria.
“We need people to hang in there and really fight.” she said after astonishing over how carelessly people were wearing their masks.
“It needs to cover your nose and mouth… wearing a mask below your chin is useless,” she said in an advising manner.
