People with COVID history more prone to Omicron reinfection than Delta, reveals a new finding by WHO

According to a report by the World Health Organisation, people with a history of COVID are 3 to 5 times more prone to be reinfected with the new Omicron strain than Delta, which triggered the ghastly second wave. While the Variant of Concern has been claimed to be milder than older strains, this new piece of information seems to prove otherwise. Read on to know more about this new finding by WHO.

Vaccination, prevention & preparation is the way forward: Kluge

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Going by the words of WHO's Regional Director for Europe, Hans Henri P Kluge, Omicron has the ability to evade previous immunity in people, thereby increasing the risk of reinfection in people who have recovered from COVID previously.

In a note, Hans Henri said, "So it can still infect those who have had Covid-19 in the past, those who are unvaccinated, and those who were vaccinated many months ago,"

"There are three things that we need to do urgently: protect ourselves through vaccination, prevent further infections, and prepare health systems for a surge in cases", added the executive.

Pandemic takes a toll on healthcare worker's mental health

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Talking about the stress caused by the pandemic, the WHO executive said, "Two years in, our health workers are being severely tested once again. It is deeply worrying that one in 5 is suffering from anxiety and depression from the pandemic. Their concerns must be addressed and their need for manageable working conditions supported."

Stressing over the preparation before the peak of the Omicron-led third wave, Kluge emphasised the need to strengthen and increase testing and tracing capacity. Apart from this, the WHO official also directed authorities to include primary health care centres in case management and ensure proper healthcare infrastructure to assist frontline workers in managing the upcoming surge.

Europe marks one-third of total COVID cases in the world

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As per the Health Ministry, the Omicron infection tally has crossed the 3,000-mark by marking 3,071 cases across the country, as of January 7. With over 1.4 lakh fresh COVID cases reported in India on Friday, the daily count tally of the country witnessed a whopping 21% surge from Thursday. According to official data, 285 people succumbed to this infection on January 7 taking the cumulative death toll to a total of 4,83,463 cases.

Meanwhile, marking the start of a global third wave, Europe registered more than 10 lakh COVID cases for the first time this week. Ever since the outbreak of this pandemic, over 10 crore people have contracted the infection in Europe, marking more than 33% of infections across the world.

-wWith inputs from IANS