The Omicron variant of the COVID-19
virus was caught fast and more data are needed to see how
dangerous it may be in eluding vaccines, the president of
Italy's Higher Health Institute (ISS), Silvio Brusaferro, said
Wednesday.
Omicron, he said, "has about 30 mutations that were rapidly
intercepted and put at the disposal of the scientific community"
after it was detected in South Africa.
"The speed in intercepting it has led to a rapid reaction at a
global level.
"On the other hand, since it was picked up so quickly, the data
on its characteristics are still few.
"We are still collecting data. In Africa it produced mild forms
(of infection) but African reality is different from ours".
Brusaferro added that Italy's Rt transmission number was still
above one, a key threshold, and hospital admissions with COVID
were on the rise.
"The number of people infected is growing and is growing
progressively. The weekly incidence is rising. The
transmissibility index is still above one and this figure is
very important because the possibility of bringing infections
down depends on an Rt under one.
"At the same time, with this Rt, admissions are rising in a
regular way, both in general wards and in intensive care, albeit
for the moment below the alert threshold".
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