Omicron corona virus puts the world on global alarm

Omicron corona virus puts the world on global alarm.

The discovered omicron corona virus which was discovered in South Africa has put the world on global alarm. 

Europe along side other countries is frantically imposing travel bans in other to better prevent the spread of the new covid 19 variant “Omicron”. Several countries of the world has been reported to have suspected cases of the virus Omicron variant.

The Variant was found in South Africa as of Friday, it was also discovered in Botswana, Belgium and Hong Kong. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has made it known that there was a “high to very high” risk that the new variant would spread all over Europe.

On Sunday, there were two confirmed cases in the United Kingdom and other two in Germany. This was said to be discovered on Sunday midday.

More than a dozen more people in Netherlands and Czech Republic are suspected.

Top infectious disease expert in the United States, in the person of Dr. Anthony Fauci, also mentioned that it was possible the new variant was already in the country but it’s yet to be detected.

While WHO has designated the virus Omicron as a “variant of concern” on Friday, he emphasised on the need for more research to determine if the virus is more contagious and if it can cause more severe diseases. And also to know if it could evade vaccines.

“This variant posses a large number of mutations and some of these mutations came inbuilt with some worrying characteristics,” Maria Van Kerkhove, who happens to be WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, made it clear in a statement on Friday.

Read Also: US, UK, Europe and Canada shuts down boarders to 7 countries

“Speaking now, there are so many studies that are underway … so far there’s hope for little information but those studies are underway so we seriously need researchers to have the time to carry those out and WHO will inform the public and our partners and our member states as soon as we come up with more information,” she added.

A professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom and a  virologist, Lawrence Young, made it known that the Omicron variant was “Very worrying”.

“It remains the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen to date. This variant posses some changes we’ve seen previously in other variants but never all together in one virus. It also posses novel mutations,” Young said in a statement.

The variant posses a high number of mutations of about 50 overall. Crucially, the South African genomic scientists made it known on Thursday that more than 30 of the mutations were found in the spike protein — the structure the virus uses to get into the cells they attack.