The doctor who detected world's first Omicron variant case on Monday said that the Covid-19's variant is quite transmissible. Claiming that she has seen 100 patients the South African Medical Assn Chairperson said that "it's quite transmissible; if I look at Delta, it seems less but it's very transmissible."
"In South Africa we don't see severe cases, it's mostly mild cases," the doctor added.
The World Health organisation also two days ago said that the new strain is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant in countries with documented community transmission, with a doubling time of 1.5–3 days.
The Omicron variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission, the WHO said.
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Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity, but it is unclear if this is due to the virus' ability to evade immunity, its inherent increased transmissibility or a combination of both, the WHO said in an update.
The Omicron variant, which was designated as a variant of concern on Nov. 26, has been identified in 89 countries across all six WHO regions as of Dec. 16, the world's top health body said.
Meanwhile, in India, the total number of people found to have been infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has increased to 161, none of which have so far developed severe disease, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Rajya Sabha today.
On Friday, the health ministry had said that India's total tally of Omicron cases stood at 101. Mandaviya today said all those confirmed to have been infected with the highly contagious variant of the virus so far have been either asymptomatic or developed mild symptoms.
