World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wearing a protective facemask, attends a press conference on December 20, 2021 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva
Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
The World Health Organization’s director-general warned on Thursday against calling the Omicron coronavirus variant “mild,” even if it’s less severe than the Delta variant.
“While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorized as ‘mild,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. “Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalizing people and it is killing people.”
He said hospitals are becoming both “overcrowded and understaffed,” leading to “preventable” deaths not just because of COVID-19 but from other injuries and diseases.
Last week, he said a “tsunami” of COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant would strain healthcare workers and hospitals that are already nearing the “brink of collapse.”
The director-general’s remarks come as the world faces a surge in COVID-19 cases, according to the latest WHO data.
In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the Omicron variant makes up 95% of recent cases.
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