WHO sees unprecedented Omicron spread, ‘probably’ in most countries

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act as drug maker Pfizer said its coronavirus pill was effective against the variant. Dutch primary schools will close early as Europe battles a fresh wave of infections and hospital admissions, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major parliamentary test seeking to impose fresh Covid-19 curbs. Omicron, first detected by South Africa and reported to the WHO on November 24, has a large number of mutations, setting alarm bells ringing since its discovery. Early data suggests it can be resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which was first identified in India and accounts for the bulk of the world’s coronavirus cases. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters the strain had been reported in 77 countries and had “probably” spread to most nations undetected “at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant”. Although Britain on Monday confirmed what is thought to be the world’s first Omicron death, there is no proof yet that Omicron causes more severe illness. The WHO on Tuesday provided room for cautious optimism saying Africa had recorded a massive rise in cases over the past week but a lower number of deaths compared with previous waves. But it urged countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems and warned against complacency. UK lifts Omicron travel ban for 11 African nations WHO expert Bruce Aylward strenuously warned against “jumping to a conclusion that this is a mild disease”. “We could be setting ourselves up for a very dangerous situation,” he added. The warning came as Pfizer on Tuesday said clinical trials of its Covid-19 pill reduced hospital admissions and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 per cent. The American drug maker said its new treatment, Paxlovid, held up against Omicron in lab-testing. Chief executive Albert Bourla called the news a “game changer” and said he expected approval from the US medicines regulator as early as this month. A real-world study from South Africa has showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 70 per cent effective in stopping severe illness from Omicron. Researchers called the results encouraging, though it represented a drop compared to earlier strains, underlining the unpredictability of Covid-19 since it emerged in China in 2019. And the WHO added that low vaccination rates in regions including Africa – where Omicron was first detected – would provide breeding grounds for new variants. It estimated it will take Africa until May 2022 to have 40 per cent vaccination coverage and until August 2024 to reach 70 per cent as countries with plentiful vaccine supplies raced to administer third doses to beat Omicron. Europe is the world’s coronavirus hotspot, recording 62 per cent of the world’s total Covid-19 cases in the past seven days, while the five countries with the world’s highest infection rates are all European. Bracing for Omicron: masks back as US Covid-19 cases hit 50 million The Netherlands followed other European nations in reintroducing restrictions on Tuesday as Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced primary schools would shut next week and a nighttime lockdown will be extended amid Omicron fears. Schools will close from December 20 instead of on December 25 due to concerns that children, among whom Covid-19 rates are the highest, could infect older relatives. “This is obviously not the joyful message we had hoped for as Christmas approaches. But it’s not a surprise,” Rutte said. France on Tuesday registered 63,405 new coronavirus cases – its highest daily total since April – even with more than 77 per cent of its population having had at least one vaccine jab. In neighbouring Britain, the ruling Conservative government on Tuesday urged its own MPs not to rebel against new coronavirus restrictions, insisting the country was in a race to prevent the Omicron variant spiralling out of control. Boris Johnson’s administration plans to introduce new rules on mask-wearing, daily testing to avoid isolation and vaccine passes for certain settings in England. But he has provoked opposition from his own party, who believe the measures are excessive and undermine basic freedoms. Infographic: what we know about the Omicron variant Scientists have predicted the true number already infected with Omicron in Britain could be as high as 200,000 a day, while the English Premier League reported a record caseload that threatened further disruption to fixtures. According to tally by Johns Hopkins University, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 5.3 million deaths and over 270 million infections. Many investors fear that the Omicron variant could throw the global economic recovery into jeopardy.