Full story with @mroliverbarnes here: ft.com/content/fb7c54…
.@mvankerkhove tells me there is no estimate of total Omicron cases yet but that they are “increasing . . . overall” across South Africa. She said she was “concerned” because Omicron was “quite divergent” compared with other variants. ft.com/content/fb7c54…
.@mvankerkhove also says that in areas where tests suggest Omicron was present “there is an increase in cases. I can’t say if we see increased transmissibility for sure”. Not clear yet on severity either. Hospitalisations have risen on more cases. ft.com/content/fb7c54…
Experts had debated whether to wait a few days before giving omicron the highest designation of concern, sources tell me. This was rejected bc the ‘wait-and-see’ approach has failed -- The world was “always reacting too late", one said.
“We don’t want people to panic. This is why researchers are doing this work,” @mvankerkhove said. "Quite frankly if the studies come back [and there's less/no cause for concern] we'll reclassify it as a VOI."
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