The Russian leadership warns of the approach of a strong wave of infections with the Omicron coronavirus, which may begin within a couple of weeks. We looked at what is happening with COVID disease in the countries most affected by the new strain of the virus.
Preliminary results of two clinical trials in South Africa show that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has a much higher level of “asymptomatic carrier” than the previous COVID variants, which may explain why the new strain has spread so quickly around the world, even among populations with a high level of previous coronavirus infection.
South Africa has seen a spike in COVID-19 infections since late November, around the time its scientists alerted the world to Omicron. But new cases have since declined, and early indications show that the wave was marked by a less serious illness than the previous ones, Reuters reports.