WHO expects an increase in deaths from Omicron

The World Health Organization WHO has said that it expects an increase in the number of hospitalisations and fatalities related to the new Omicron coronavirus strain reported Sputnik ldquoAs case numbers linked to a variant of concern increase globally we expect the number of hospitalized cases and even deaths to be reportedrdquo the WHO said in a statementThe UN health agency also said that more information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with Omicron and WHO encourages countries to contribute to the collection and sharing of hospitalized patient data through the WHO Covid19 Clinical Data Platform according to SputnikA nurse fills a syringe with a Covid19 vaccine at a Soweto hospital South Africa on Monday PicsAPIt comes as the WHO last week had shed light on features of the new Covid19 variant Omicron including the extent to which it will spread and the number of mutations in the newfound strain The UNhealth agency had suggested that a new variant could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic but itrsquos still too early to say for sureDr Tedros Ghebreyesus WHO DirectorGeneral last week had highlighted ldquoa consistent picture of the rapid increase in transmissionrdquo but added that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantifyPfizerrsquos Covid pill resultsPfizer said Tuesday that its experimental Covid19 pill appears effective against the omicron variant The company said full results of its 2250person study confirmed the pillrsquos promising early results against the virus The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89 per cent among highrisk adults when taken shortly after initial Covid19 symptoms A twodose PfizerBioNTech vaccination also provides just 33 per cent protection against infection by the omicron variant but 70 per cent protection against hospitalisation according to largescale analysis in South Africa released TuesdayPeople wait to be vaccinated at a Covid19 vaccination centre in Ramsgate England on Tuesday as the UK government urged all adults to protect themselves against the Omicron variant PicAPPerson on Israeli PMrsquos flight tests Covid positiveA person who was on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennettrsquos flight back from the United Arab Emirates has tested positive for Covid19 the prime ministerrsquos office said on Tuesday Bennett returned to Israel on Monday from a historic twoday trip to the Gulf Arab state the first by an Israeli leader to the country which recently normalised ties with Israel He was in a threeday quarantine on Tuesday as per Health Ministry regulations which require all returning travellers even those vaccinated to selfisolateUS Air Force discharges 27 for refusing vaccineThe US Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the Covid19 vaccine making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said they were lowerranking personnel533736No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours269468311Total no of cases worldwide5304248Total no of deaths worldwideSource WHOJohns HopkinsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever