âItâs premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory,â said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus about the fight against Covid yesterday.
âThis virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes,â said Ghebreyesus in opening remarks at the organizationâs weekly Covid update. âWHO is currently tracking four sub-lineages of the Omicron variant of concern, including BA.2.â Preliminary findings seem to indicate that BA.2 is more transmissible, but not more virulent, than the original Omicron.
The Director-General and other WHO officials sought during the briefing to warn countries not to let their guards down, particularly with respect to Omicron. While not designated as such on the WHO web site yet, the WHO Covid-19 technical lead said on Monday that, since BA.2 is Omicron, it is a variant of concern.
