As Omicron cases rise in India, WHO issues chilling warning about new COVID-19 variant

Amid the rising Omicron cases in India, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tueday (December 28) warned that the overall risk related to Omicron 'remains very high'.

The WHO said in its weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 that new COVID-19 variant Omicron has a 'growth advantage over the Delta variant' with a doubling time of 2-3 days.

"Rapid increases in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries, including those where the variant has become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America," the WHO said.

"The rapid growth rate is likely to be a combination of both immune evasion and intrinsic increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant," it added.

The WHO report noted that early data from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Denmark shows that the risk of hospitalization due to Omicron is less than the Delta variant. The WHO report added that more data are needed to understand the clinical markers of severity including the use of oxygen, mechanical ventilation and death.

"It is also expected that corticosteroids and interleukin 6 receptor blockers will remain effective in the management of patients with severe disease, however, preliminary data suggest that monoclonal antibodies may be less able to neutralize the Omicron variant," it said.

Meanwhile, the total number of Omicron cases in India jumped to 784, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Out of the 784 Omicron patients, 241 have  recovered so far.