The omicron coronavirus
variant may outrun the deadly Delta variant in transmissibility, according to the
director of South Africa’s communicable disease institute. Omicron was first
discovered in the Gauteng province of South Africa and has since spread to several
countries across the globe. The detection of the virus has also made countries
hit the breaks on resuming travel and may nations have imposed extremely strict
curbs.

While the World
Heath Organization (WHO) has said that the omicron coronavirus variant poses a
very high risk, the South African institute of communicable diseases went a bit
further to stress the potential of this new and highly-mutative variant.

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“We thought what
will outcompete Delta? That has always been the question, in terms of
transmissibility at least…perhaps this particular variant is the variant,” said
Adrian Puren, acting executive director to South Africa’s National Institute of
Communicable Diseases (NICD) in an interview to Reuters.

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The South African
province where the variant was first detected has already seen a rise in
hospitalisation numbers. If the variant proves to be more transmissible than
Delta, a higher rise in hospitalisations is expected not only in South Africa
but also in other parts of the world where the variant has been detected.

Also Read | Will omicron outrun Delta? Will jabs still work? Scientists compare notes

As for concrete
information on whether the omicron variant is able to outdo Delta, scientists
may still take a couple of weeks to find out. For now, doctors say infection
with the omicron variant does not necessarily lead to severe disease and the
symptoms include fatigue, mild fever and dry cough along with night sweats.

The Delta variant,
which wreaked havoc in countries such as India and the United States, drove the
third wave of infections in South Africa. At one point earlier this year, cases
in South Africa reached 26,000 per day. Omicron may trigger a fourth wave with
daily infections already rising to 10,000 by the end of the week.