The risk posed by the Omicron variant is still “very high”, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, after Covid-19 case numbers shot up by 11 percent globally last week. Omicron is behind rapid virus spikes in several countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previously-dominant Delta variant, the WHO said in its Covid-19 weekly epidemiological update. “The overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high,” the UN health agency said. “This corresponds to just under five million new cases and over 44,000 new deaths,” the Geneva-based organisation said. The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States, Britain, France and Italy.

Source: The Guardian December 29, 2021 12:45 UTC