WHO says Omicron COVID strain doubling within 3 days in places with community transmission

The newly discovered Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 nations and the number of cases in areas where community transmissions have been recorded, COVID-19 cases are doubling within one-and-a-half to three days, the World Health Organization (WHO) informed. Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa, has been spreading rapidly across countries with high population immunity.

However, the WHO has said in a recent update that it still remains unclear if the drastic spread is due to the mutated virus’ ability to evade immunity, its increased transmissibility, or an amalgam of both. The UN health agency said, "Here is consistent evidence that Omicron has a substantial growth advantage over Delta. It is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant in countries with documented community transmission, with a doubling time between 1.5–3 days."

"Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity and it remains uncertain to what extent the observed rapid growth rate can be attributed to immune evasion, intrinsic increased transmissibility or a combination of both," the WHO stated.

The global health body informed that as of 16 December 2021, the Omicron variant had been identified in 89 countries across all six WHO regions. "Current understanding of the Omicron variant will continue to evolve as more data becomes available," WHO added.

More data needed to identify severity of Omicron: WHO

In its 'Enhancing Readiness for Omicron (B.1.1.529): Technical Brief and Priority Actions for Member States' report, released on Friday, the World Health Organization said that with the present data, Omicron is likely to outpace Delta where community transmission occurs. However, the UN health body added, “There are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron…More data are needed to understand the severity profile and how severity is impacted by vaccination and pre-existing immunity,” adding, “There are still limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron.”

Additionally, WHO said that with Omicron cases rising so swiftly, hospitals could be overwhelmed in some of the places. It said, “Hospitalisations in the UK and South Africa continue to rise and given rapidly increasing case counts, it is possible that many healthcare systems may become quickly overwhelmed.”

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