15 erring recruitment offices penalized in 3 months    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    Mass food poisonings cast shadow over Indonesia's free school meals    Police fatally shoot man at Toronto's international airport    Saudia Group signs deal with Airbus for flyadeal's first wide-body aircraft    Saudi non-oil exports surge 14.3 percent to SR26.11bn in February    Ministry of Justice launches centralized court model to enhance judicial efficiency    Saudi Arabia elected chair of Asia region of World Meteorological Organization    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Super Max Verstappen scorches to pole with record lap in Jeddah    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Don't panic but prepare for likely Omicron spread, says WHO
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 03 - 12 - 2021

As scientists continue to investigate the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged countries not to panic but to prepare for its likely spread.
Heralding South Africa's and Botswana's decision to report the appearance of the Omicron coronavirus mutation last month, the UN health agency repeated that it will take another two weeks before more is known about how transmissible and how dangerous it actually is.
Speaking in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed that data suggesting that Omicron was highly transmissible was only preliminary.
He also repeated WHO advice against blanket travel bans, except for countries whose health systems were unable to withstand a surge in infections.
"It is much more preferred to prepare your country, your health system to possibly incoming cases because we can be pretty sure that this Omicron variant will spread around," he said.
The Delta mutation – declared a variant of concern this summer – is now "predominant", Mr. Lindmeier added, "with over 90 per cent all around the world. This is how this virus behaves and we will not most likely be able to keep it out of individual countries."
The WHO official also cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to reports that Omicron had continued to spread.
"Let's not get deterred right now, let us first get as much information as possible to make the correct risk assessment based on the information that we will have and then let's move on," he said.
"Let's not get completely worried or confused by individual information which are all individually important, but which need to be brought together in order to assess together."
The development comes as WHO said that it was sending a technical surge team to South Africa's Gauteng province to monitor Omicron and help with contract tracing, amid a spike in coronavirus reinfections.
For the seven days leading to 30 November, South Africa reported a 311 per cent increase in new cases, compared with the previous seven days, WHO said on Thursday.
Cases in Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, have increased by 375 per cent week on week. Hospital admissions there rose 4.2 per cent in the past seven days from the previous week. And COVID-19-related deaths in the province jumped 28.6 per cent from the previous seven days.
Announcing the surge team deployment, Dr Salam Gueye, WHO Regional Emergency Director for Africa, noted that just 102 million Africans in Africa – 7.5 per cent of the continental population – are now fully vaccinated and that more than 80 per cent of the population has not received even a single dose. "This is a dangerously wide gap," he said.
In a statement, WHO said that South Africa is reportedly seeing more patients contracting COVID-19 after having already been infected, in a way it did not with previous variants, citing a microbiologist from the country's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Working with African governments to accelerate studies and bolster the response to the new variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries to sequence between 75 and 150 samples weekly.
"The detection and timely reporting of the new variant by Botswana and South Africa has bought the world time," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
"We have a window of opportunity but must act quickly and ramp up detection and prevention measures. Countries must adjust their COVID-19 response and stop a surge in cases from sweeping across Africa and possibly overwhelming already-stretched health facilities." — UN News


Clic here to read the story from its source.