New variant ‘may not be as severe or contagious as Delta’
The WHO calls for calm, and a leading South African GP says Australia has overreacted
The new SARS-CoV-2 variant, Omicron, that’s prompting selective border closures worldwide is yet to be proven more transmissible or severe than Delta, the WHO says.
The main unusual feature of the variant seems to be a higher risk of reinfection in recovered patients, it said in a bulletin on Monday morning.
The high number of mutations in the spike protein of the B.1.1.529 variant prompted global concerns over the weekend, when the WHO classified it as a variant of concern and named it after the Greek letter Omicron.
The Australian Government reacted by suspending all flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.
