WHO classifies new Covid strain, renamed Omicron, as ‘variant of concern’

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday assigned the Greek letter “Omicron” to the new coronavirus detected in South Africa and identified is as a “variant of concern”. The strain was initially identified as B.1.159. 

“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the UN-backed health organisation said in a statement issued on Friday adding that preliminary evidence suggests “an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs (variants of concern)”. 

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The new variant is said to be heavily-mutative in character and is feared to have triggered an uptick in COVID-19 cases in South Africa’s Gauteng province. It was in this heavily-populated region where the virus was first detected. 

So far, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium have reported cases of the variant. Belgium is the only European nation to have reported a case. A traveller who came in from Egypt to Belgium on November 11 is said to have tested positive for the Omicron variant. According to Belgian’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, the individual was unvaccinated. 

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The WHO said on Friday that cases of the Omicron variant are on the rise in all provinces of South Africa. The health agency’s identification of the strain as a “variant of concern” indicates that it is more transmissible than others and may be capable of eluding vaccine protections and other therapeutics. 

South Africa’s health department said on Thursday that some of Omicron’s mutations are linked to increased antibody resistance and could reduce protections offered by vaccines. Further, certain mutations of the variant could also be more transmissible. 

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Scientists in South Africa say that the Omicron variant may be carrying with it around 50 mutations. What is of even greater concern is that 30 out of these 50 mutations are in the virus’ spike protein, the region of the protein that interacts with human cells prior to cell entry. 

This, according to scientists, also indicates that the mutation may have come from a single patient who could not clear the virus and gave it an opportunity to evolve genetically. Nearly 100 Omicron genomes have been found in South Africa so far.