WHO Says Omicron Variant Virus May Be Milder Than Delta

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tan Desai pointed out that the highly contagious Omicron variant virus may change the course of the epidemic, but the actual impact is "difficult to know at this time." CNBC and Reuters reported that Tedros Tedros said at a press conference held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on the 8th that some features of Omicron, such as widespread global spread and a large number of mutations, suggest that this variant virus may have a major impact on the course of the epidemic. . The WHO pointed out that Omicron's genetic mutation affects its toxicity, and the infectivity may be much higher than the previous mutant virus strain. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of technology for the WHO's new crown epidemic, said that preliminary evidence from South Africa may suggest that Omircon may be milder than the Delta variant, but "it is still too early to make a conclusion." She said that South African mildly ill patients may not have gone through the entire infection process. "I hope everyone will not prematurely conclude on the severity of Omicron." Van Kerkhove also mentioned that elderly, unvaccinated or chronically ill infected. The risk of developing severe illness is much higher for patients. The Omicron variant virus has been detected in 57 countries around the world. According to WHO data, new confirmed cases worldwide entered the plateau area last week, with the number exceeding 4 million, similar to the previous week. However, the number of new deaths worldwide last week increased by 10% from the previous week to more than 52,500.