How fast does the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spread from person to person? | WHO Gives 3 reasons

How fast does the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spread from person to person?

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Covid-19 specialized lead, explains how Omicron is transmitted and how individuals can deal with fighting it. Having been discovered first in South Africa in November 2021, the Omicron variation has quickly spread to the rest of the world, sending Covid-19 cases soaring to unprecedented heights. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 10 million new Covid diseases were reported worldwide in the previous week, fueled by the deeply contagious Omicron variant. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Covid-19 specialized lead, clarified what makes the most recent variation of infection so infectious and how people can combat it.

Kerkhove explained that micron is sent between individuals for a variety of reasons. To begin with, the changes in the infection permit it to cling to human cells all the more easily.

Furthermore, we have what is called the resistant break. Furthermore, this implies that individuals can be reinfected either assuming they had a past infection or on the other hand assuming they had been inoculated.

The third reason that makes Omicron so natural to transmit is that it imitates "in the upper respiratory lot," unlike Delta and other varieties, like the tribal strain, which repeats in the lower respiratory parcel, in the lungs."

According to Kerkhove, studies have shown that the risk of contracting extreme sickness from Omicron is less when compared to Delta, but there is no good reason to be smug. In addition, the spread of the infection is driven by people mixing more and not adhering to measures like wearing veils and physical separation, she explained.

The sheer number of cases we see all over the world is truly astonishing. Even at a lower risk of hospitalization, there are still countless individuals who need clinical care, who are hospitalized, and this will overwhelm the system," she said.

A flood of Covid cases has caused hospitalizations to expand consistently since late December last year. Health authorities have warned that the sheer number of cases resulting from Omicron is overtaxing emergency clinics.

Kerkhove explained, "We limit openness so that we can limit the number of cases so they don't have a huge impact on medical care."

Countermeasures include getting immunized, monitoring social gatherings, and avoiding big gatherings. "Stick to the measures that protect you," she told me.