Faith Nyasuguta
The WHO has said the risk level related to the Omicron variant remains very high as the numbers of new Covid-19 cases hit another record high last week.
“Over 21 million new cases were reported, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic,” the World Health Organisation said during the weekly epidemiological coronavirus update.
The global health agency indicated that the number of new cases jumped by five per cent last week, after a 20 per cent rise in the previous week.
“A slower increase in case incidence was observed at the global level,” the WHO said.
Similarly, about 50,000 new deaths were also reported, a figure close to the one reported the week before.
RISING DOMINANCE
According to the report, Omicron continued to increase its dominance globally over the other variants of concern.
“The current global epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by the dominance of the Omicron variant on a global scale, continued decline in the prevalence of the Delta variant, and very low-level circulation of Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants,” the WHO said.
“Countries that experienced a rapid rise in Omicron cases in November and December 2021 have been or are beginning to see declines in cases.”
However, “based on the currently available evidence, the overall risk related to the Omicron variant remains very high”.
The WHO added that of samples collected, sequenced, sampled and uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative in the last 30 days, Omicron accounted for 89.1 per cent.
Delta — previously the world’s dominant variant — now makes up just 10.7 per cent.
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