The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that combining the more transmissible Omicron with the currently circulating Delta variants could result in a "tsunami of cases," putting enormous strain on national health systems.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated at a press conference on Wednesday that he's "highly concerned" that "Omicron being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta — is leading to a tsunami of cases." "This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the verge of collapse, disrupting lives and livelihoods," he added, citing the pressure as a result of not only new Covid-19 patients requiring hospitalisation but also a large number of health workers getting sick themselves.
Tedros expressed his dissatisfaction with a recent report that Omicron was producing milder or less serious ailments. "But at the same time, we're undercutting the other side - that might be hazardous... we shouldn't ignore the bad news in favour of the positive," he remarked. "We don't want people to become complacent, claiming that this isn't a serious situation. And in that storey, we have to be very careful " Tedros said.
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