No reports yet of Omicron deaths

The World Health Organization said Friday it had not seen any reports of deaths relating to the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, report agencies.

The WHO said it was collecting evidence about the variant of concern (VOC), as countries around the world scramble to stop it from spreading.

But despite a growing number of countries registering infections with the new variant, no deaths have yet been reported to the UN health agency.

The WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told Reuters on Friday that while the new coronavirus variant omicron appeared to be very transmissible, the right response was to be prepared, cautious and not panic.

The WHO has urged countries to boost healthcare capacity and vaccinate their people to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant, saying travel curbs could buy time but alone were not the answer.

Much remains unknown about omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has been spotted in at least two dozen countries. Parts of Europe were already grappling with a wave of infections of the Delta variant before it emerged.

The WHO's top scientist said the omicron variant seemed to be causing three times more infections than experienced previously in South Africa, meaning "it does seem to be able to overcome some of the natural immunity from previous infection".

Vaccines did appear to be having some effect.

"The fact that they're not getting sick .... that means the vaccines are still providing protection and we would hope that they would continue to provide protection," Swaminathan said.

Asked about the need for annual vaccine boosters, she said "the WHO is preparing for all scenarios", which could include an additional dose, particularly among some age groups or vulnerable sections of the population, or a modified vaccine.

Another report adds: The Omicron strain of coronavirus causes milder cases for those who have been inoculated against COVID-19.

However, those who avoid getting inoculated could end up hospitalized, South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla cautioned on Friday.

Meanwhile, the United States and Australia announced their first locally transmitted cases of the Omicron variant as authorities worldwide rushed on Friday to stem the spread of the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain.

The World Health Organization has warned it could take weeks to determine whether Omicron is more transmissible and whether it causes more severe infections -- as well as how effective current treatments and vaccines are against it.

The WHO urged countries to boost healthcare capacity and vaccinate their people to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant, and said travel curbs could buy time but alone were not the answer.

Omicron has gained a foothold in Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Middle East and Europe and has reached seven of the nine provinces of South Africa, where it was first identified. Many governments have tightened travel rules to keep the variant out.

Meanwhile, the overall number of Covid cases has surged past 264.5 million amid the global scare over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

According to Worldometers, the total case count mounted to 264,693,896 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,253,868 Friday evening.

More than 8.09 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 37.1 million doses a day.

The US has recorded 48,832,302 cases to date and more than 785,907 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,118,782 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 615,225.

Brazil on Wednesday reported its third case of Omicron, after a Brazilian national who arrived from eastern Africa over the weekend tested positive.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,609,741 on Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 469,724.

India Thursday reported its first two known Covid-19 cases of the Omicron variant, discovered in two men aged 46 and 66, respectively, in the southern state of Karnataka, Indian Health Ministry's joint secretary Lav Agarwal told the media in the national capital.