The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Europe saw more than 7 million newly-reported cases in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period, WHO’s Europe director Hans Kluge told a news briefing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next 6-8 weeks,” Kluge said, referring to a research centre at the University of Washington.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fifty out of 53 countries in Europe and central Asia have logged cases of the more infectious variant, Kluge said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Evidence, however, is emerging that Omicron is affecting the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than previous variants.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But the WHO has cautioned more studies are still needed to prove this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.Europe saw more than 7 million newly-reported cases in t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n