The level of risk posed by the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 remains very high, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in its weekly newsletter, as the number of cases reached a new record last week.
“Based on the data currently available, the global risk associated with Omicron remains very high,” the agency said.
“Over 21 million new cases have been reported (in the last seven days), the highest number on a weekly basis since the pandemic occurred,” he said.
The agency says the number of infections increased by 5% over the past week, compared to 20% during the previous week. The global impact index is growing at a “slower” rate, he notes.
The WHO also cites 50,000 deaths due to complications of COVID-19, a number that remained stable last week compared to the previous one.
The Omicron variant remains the dominant one worldwide. The impact of the Delta variant is in “continuous decline”, while the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants are now available “very little”.
“Countries that experienced an increase in Omicron cases in November and December 2021 have seen or are beginning to see a decrease,” according to the agency.
Omicron was detected in 89.1% of the samples collected and tested in the last 30 days.
The data downloaded to the global GISAID database also show that the Delta variant, which was previously the dominant one, now represents only 10.7% of the international cases.
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