WHO Urges Countries To Be Vigilant About Omicron Covid Variant

Countries must enhance surveillance and sequencing. They should assess the risk of importation through international travel based on updated information on circulating variants and response capacities, and take measures accordingly.

WHO Urges Countries To Be Vigilant About Omicron Covid Variant

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday appealed to countries in the South-East Asia region to scale up surveillance, strengthen public health and social measures, and enhance vaccination coverage as a new variant of Covid has emerged.

The new variant, known as B.1.1.529, has been detected in small numbers in South Africa. The WHO on Friday assigned the Greek letter Omicron to the variant.