The omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, discovered just a few weeks ago, is poised to dominate Covid-19 cases around the world. It’s a stunning new twist to the pandemic saga that has countries scrambling to prepare.
Despite early findings that Omicron is milder than other variants, scientists are concerned by the sheer number of infections being recorded.
Researchers are now racing to understand the variant to anticipate its next moves, but it’s proving to be challenging. From its genetic origins to the way it infects people, omicron is unusual and perplexing. Through studying the genetics of the variant, scientists hope to get more clues about where it came from and potentially prevent the next variant from catching the world off-guard.
Holiday travel plans around the world continue to be disrupted with thousands of flights cancelled for the Christmas weekend as Covid infections surge with. Further delays and disruption is expected with hundreds more flights cancelled on Sunday.
Many of the flight cancellations are the result of airline crews testing positive, or being forced to self-isolate to stem the spread. Airlines have blamed shortages of healthy staff for the cancellations of nearly 2,400 flights on Friday and more than 2,300 on Saturday.
More than 800 of those cancelled on Saturday were to or from US airports. In Europe, travel restrictions are among measures aimed at reducing cases, largely driven by the Omicron variant.
Omicron could therefore push the Covid-19 pandemic into its worst phase yet. Or it might not. It’s not yet clear whether it will drive up hospitalizations and deaths to record levels in the US and beyond, but epidemiological models show that omicron is likely to have a heavy toll this winter.
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