The World Health Organization issued a warning on Friday, stating that the omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading at a much faster rate than the delta variant.
Consistent evidence shows that omicron has a substantial growth advantage over the delta, the UN agency said in an update.
“It is spreading significantly faster than the delta variant in countries with documented community transmission,” the WHO said.
“Growth rate estimates in South Africa are now declining, driven largely by the declining rates in Gauteng province,” which includes Johannesburg, it added.
“It remains uncertain to what extent the observed rapid growth rate since November 2021 can be attributed to immune evasion or intrinsic increased transmissibility, but is likely a combination of both.”
On Nov. 26, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern and named it omicron.
“Omicron is a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations, including 26-32 mutations in the spike protein, some of which may be associated with humoral immune escape potential and higher transmissibility,” the WHO said.
As of Dec. 22, the omicron had been identified in 110 countries across all six WHO regions.
