The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that more than 50% of the European population could become infected with Omicron in the coming weeks.

Since the discovery of this variant, Omicron, in South Africa, the numbers have not stopped growing. According to the director of the World Health Organization at the European level, Hans Kluge, during the first week of the year, there were more than 7 million new cases in Europe. And the variant already "reigns" in almost all the 53 countries of the block, writes the UN News Agency.

In a data presentation in Geneva on Tuesday, Hans Kluge points out that mortality rates remain stable on the continent, but are higher in countries where case incidence is high and vaccination rates are low.

The WHO head in Europe also points out that recent data prove that the variant is "highly transmissible and can infect even people who have already had Covid-19 or who have been vaccinated."

In Denmark, for example, where cases have "exploded in recent weeks," the hospitalization rate for Covid-19 is six times higher in unvaccinated patients compared to those who received the full dose.

The expert reports that due to an unprecedented scale of transmission, the rate of hospitalizations is increasing, which has been a challenge for health systems.

Kluge also called for more support for the physical and mental health of health care workers as the pandemic enters its third year.

The head of WHO Europe reminds us that it is essential to continue using high-quality masks indoors, to provide booster doses to vulnerable groups and teachers, to ensure ventilation of spaces (especially classrooms), and to maintain good hand hygiene.

Source UN News