Geneva: the World Health Organization on Monday warned that the new Covid-19 Omicron variant poses a "very high" risk globally, pressing that uncertainties remained about how infectious and dangerous the variant was.
"If another major surge of Covid-19 takes place driven by Omicron, consequences may be severe," WHO said in a technical note, adding though that "to date, no deaths linked to Omicron variant have been reported."
The World Health Organization on Friday classified the recently-detected B.1.1.529 variant of Covid-19, first reported in southern Africa, as 'variant of concern' and termed it 'Omicron'.
The classification places Omicron into the category of most-dangerous of Covid-19 strains, along with the globally-dominant Delta, plus its weaker rivals Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
Countries rushed to prohibit flights to arrest the spread of Omicron on Friday, while oil prices and stock markets plunged over the fears surrounding the variant, potentially inflicting a major setback to the road of economic recovery for the world.
"Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology... the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern (VOC), named Omicron," the UN health agency said in a statement.
The organization informed it could take several weeks to complete studies of the new variant to assess if there are any changes in contagiousness, severity or implications for Covid-19 counter-measures like vaccines, tests and treatments.
