“More than tragic”, this is the observation made by the World Health Organization on the death toll from Covid-19: 500,000 since the variant B.1.1.529, called Omicron, appeared and s is taxed in many countries. Majority in Europe or the United States, this strain discovered on November 11 in Botswana, then on November 25 in South Africa, it was classified as “worrying” by the WHO the next day, November 26.
At the origin of the fifth wave in France and Europe, it is considered much more contagious than the Delta variant, which had already taken precedence over the original strain of Covid-19. However, it causes fewer serious forms in infected people. But the WHO does not want to be too optimistic: “While everyone was saying Omicron is more benign, we have missed the fact that half a million people have died since it was detected, said the WHO Incident Manager, Abdi Mahamud. In the age of effective vaccines, half a million people dying is really something… It’s more than tragic,” he said. – he lamented Tuesday, during an exchange organized on social networks by the organization.
half a million deaths
According to Abdi Mahamud, 130 million cases and 500,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide since Omicron was deemed “worrying” by the WHO in late November. There are no data available on deaths caused specifically by the B.1.1529 variant, however, curves since its appearance and its classification as “concerning” by world health authorities show an upward trend.
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“We are still in the middle of this pandemic. I hope we are getting closer to its end” but “many countries have not yet exceeded their Omicron peak” and “this virus continues to be dangerous”, has also warned another WHO official, Maria Van Kerkhove.
A spike in contamination never seen
Omicron’s case count is otherwise “staggering”, “previous peaks seem almost flat”, even though the actual number of cases and deaths would be much higher than the official one, she added.
The characteristics of the variant also play a role, at a time when more than 60% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. “The data gathered in recent weeks confirm that Omicron is very contagious, because its mutations allow it to adhere more easily to human cells. It can even infect people who have already been infected or vaccinated”, explained the WHO in this way. A declaration last January 11.
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Global hospital data is not available, “but given the unprecedented scale of transmission, we are now seeing more and more hospitalizations due to Covid-19, according to the WHO. This poses challenges for health systems and service delivery in many countries where Omicron has rapidly gained ground, and it is likely to wreak havoc in many more.”
A lower fatality rate
Nevertheless, Omicron remains a variant which causes fewer serious forms of the disease, and therefore a lower fatality rate, also due to the effectiveness of the vaccination.
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“There is evidence that in some countries infections caused by Omicron in their population are less severe than those caused by Delta,” confirms the WHO in an article published on January 19. “However, these impacts of Omicron have been mainly observed in countries of the Region characterized by a high vaccination rate: the comparatively lower rate of hospitalizations and deaths observed so far are largely due to vaccination , in particular vulnerable groups”, nuances the institution.