OMICRON VARIANT
WHO has no reports yet of deaths
Municipality marshals fine passengers upon failing to comply with the Covid-19 coronavirus safety protocols at a railway station during an enforcement drive in Bangalore, India yesterday. India expects the Omicron variant of coronavirus to cause less severe disease, the health ministry said yesterday, thanks to vaccinations and high prior exposure to the Delta variant that infected nearly 70 percent of the population by July. Photo: AFP
The World Health Organization said yesterday it had not seen any reports of deaths relating to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The WHO said it was collecting evidence about the variant of concern (VOC), as countries around the world scramble to stop it from spreading.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. But despite a growing number of countries registering infections with the new variant, no deaths have yet been reported to the UN health agency. "I have not seen reports of Omicron-related deaths yet," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.
"We're collecting all the evidence and we will find much more evidence as we go along."
While Omicron has rattled the world, Lindmeier also urged people to be mindful of the Delta variant.
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