NEWS

The Omicron coronavirus variant was first detected and announced in South Africa which has affected nearly 300 to 3,000 cases per day from mid-November to early December of 2021, marking as the fastest rate increase recorded internationally. Although gathered data with regard to the new variant is still sparse, experts from the World Health Organization cautioned citizens to keep a higher guard and protect senior citizens from travelling and being exposed to the public, since it is likely that the Omicron variant contains a higher infectious rate compared to the previous variants that have surfaced as statistically observed.

Additionally, a news article reported that on a plane ride from South Africa to the Netherlands, two flights recorded a total of 61 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus, while14 cases emerged as Omicron victims, even though travel bans from South Africa were being implemented as the passengers waited for their arrival during that time. Countries such as Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, and the United Kingdom have all reported cases of the new variant, which had urged health authorities to contact the other initial 5,000 passengers that had departed from South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe to urgently conduct COVID-19 tests.

“The data is really at an initial stage. The information we have from South Africa is that among those hospitalized with the new variant, there are relatively more young people and fewer older people, so we cannot say anything regarding the risk to older adults,” Salman Zarka, the head of Israel’s government coronavirus advisory group, said in an interview.

As Israel’s Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash and other experts continue to discuss the possible outcomes and solutions, they reminded citizens to avoid jumping to conclusions and further wait for information regarding the possible low efficacy rate of vaccines towards the new Omicron variant. Furthermore, they also encouraged people to keep in mind that they only have a hold on initial data as of now, and misleading the public can only cause more harm than good.