The unfold of the virus was additionally being pushed by the context of individuals mixing extra, WHO mentioned
Geneva:
The World Health Organization mentioned Friday that the unfold of Omicron was right down to a mix of things together with the make-up of the Covid-19 variant and elevated social mixing.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, mentioned folks due to this fact wanted to consider decreasing their publicity to the virus and take management over its transmission, following per week of report numbers of recent circumstances.
Van Kerkhove mentioned Omicron transmitted very effectively between folks on account of plenty of causes.
Firstly, its mutations permit the virus to stick to human cells extra simply.
“Second, is that we have what is called immune escape. And this means that people can be reinfected either… if they had a previous infection or if they’ve been vaccinated,” she mentioned, in feedback circulated by the WHO.
“The other reason is that we are seeing replication of Omicron in the upper respiratory tract — and that’s different from Delta and other variants, including the ancestral strain which replicated in the lower respiratory tract, in the lungs.”
But along with these elements, the unfold of the virus was additionally being pushed by the context of individuals mixing extra, spending extra time indoors within the northern hemisphere winter, and never adhering to measures resembling bodily distancing.
Just underneath 9.5 million new Covid-19 circumstances have been reported to the WHO final week — a report, up 71 p.c on the week earlier than.
“The general public out there, what you need to worry about is just reducing your exposure to the virus,” mentioned Van Kerkhove.
“We want people to understand and feel empowered that they have some control over infection.”
She additionally added that avoiding creating ongoing Long Covid signs was “reason enough” to attempt to stop getting contaminated with the illness within the first place.
