Omicron sub-variant found in 57 nations, 'premature' to declare victory over COVID-19: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Tuesday warned that it is “premature” for nations to either declare victory over the COVID-19 pandemic or lift the restrictions to halt the transmission. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the reporters, "It is premature for any country to either surrender or to declare victory.”

“This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes,” the WHO chief had added. It is to note that his remarks came after Denmark became the first European Union (EU) nation to lift all of its domestic curbs placed to stem COVID-19 even though the nation continued to record cases of the milder Omicron variant. Reports have stated that several other countries are eying similar moves. 

"We're concerned that a narrative has taken hold in some countries that because of vaccines and because of Omicron's high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is no longer possible, and no longer necessary," Tedros said.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said, stressing that "more COVID-19 transmission means more deaths."

Omicron sub-variant detected in 57 nations

Moreover, in its weekly epidemiological update on Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) health agency stated that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19, nearly accounts for nearly all the coronavirus infections across the globe. The WHO said that 93% of all coronavirus specimens collected in the past month were found to be several sub-lineages of the Omicron variant such as BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3. 

While Omicron was named B.1.1.529 after South Africa reported the variant to the agency at least 10 weeks ago, its sub-lineages BA.1 and BA.1.1 were the first versions identified. BA.1 and BA.1.1 still account for more than 96% of all the sequences of omicron cases submitted to the public virus tracking database GISAID. However, the WHO noted that in parts of Europe and Asia, BA.2, also known as the “stealth” subvariant, is starting to replace BA.1. The global health body further informed, “BA.2-designated sequences have been submitted to GISAID from 57 countries to date.”

(Image: AP)