The World Health Organization said Wednesday that 23 countries have reported cases of the Covid-19 variant.
At least 23 countries from five of the WHO's regions have reported cases of omicron, and we expect that number to grow, according to the WHO Director-General.
Every country should take this development very seriously. Tedros said that it should not surprise us. This is what viruses do. As long as we allow the virus to continue spreading, it will continue to do that.
The White House's chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that the variant has been found in 22 countries. There is no confirmed case in the U.S.
South Africa reported the variant to WHO a week ago with more than 30 changes to the spike protein alone. According to the WHO, some of the changes are associated with a decrease in the protection of the immune system.
Tedros said there is still more to be learned about the new variant's effect on transmission, the severity of disease, and the effectiveness of tests. Several WHO advisory groups met in the last few days to evaluate the emerging evidence and prioritize the studies needed to answer the questions.
He said that the highly transmissible Covid-19 variant still accounts for most cases. Tedros said that using the tools available will stop the transmission of omicron.
Tedros said that if countries and individuals don't stop the transmission of delta, they won't stop omicron either.
