Skip to main content

Early action against Omicron is imperative to avoid devastating consequences | Ewan Birney

Scientists have sprung into action to identify the new Covid variant. We don’t yet know if it is a major threat - but we should not take any chances

It was only a matter of time before a new Sars-CoV-2 variant of concern emerged, requiring an urgent global response. It would seem that the Omicron variant, identified by scientists across Africa, including the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), poses the next major threat in the course of the pandemic. Early evidence from their genomic surveillance suggests that this new variant is a serious cause for concern and it is imperative that we act fast in response to this new information.

The variant has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong, and will undoubtedly continue to arise in other territories in the coming days; travel-related cases have appeared in Belgium and Israel. Two cases of the new variant have been detected in the UK at the time of writing.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3nWTsUY

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Details of F.B.I.’s Kavanaugh Inquiry Show Its Restricted Range

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QhwZyw

The Guardian view on Labour’s difficult year: denial of hard choices is no longer an option | Editorial

All the incentives in Westminster politics militate against confronting difficult issues, but a failing government may as well try honesty The formula for stable government, according to Britain’s constitution, is a big parliamentary majority and divided opposition. Sir Keir Starmer’s predicament proves that those conditions are not sufficient. The prime minister’s inability to convince voters that he has an agenda for national renewal, and the demoralising effect that has had on the Labour party, make a leadership challenge look plausible after local elections next May. Maybe sooner. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JQljg0U