WHO: half of Europe's population could be infected with omicron in the next two months

World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge at a regular press briefing statedthat more than 50% of the population of Europe may become infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the next 6-8 weeks.

This forecast is based on data from the American Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

Kluge added that currently used vaccines provide protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. However, the high rate of spread of this strain is rapidly increasing the burden on the health care system.

On January 10, WHO Representative David Nabarro also reportedthat the next three months will be difficult due to the rapid spread of the omicron. In his opinion, there will be at least “several outbursts” as the virus continues to evolve.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin January 11 reportedthat there is already a significant number of omicron infections in the capital, and that over the next 7-10 days there will be a significant increase in the incidence.

For the first time, the omicron was discovered last November. Already in December, infections with this strain were fixed in more than 100 countries of the world, including Russia.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the total number of cases of COVID-19 infection worldwide has reached 310 million, and almost 5.5 million patients have already died. The most difficult situation is observed in the USA, India, Brazil, Great Britain and Russia. In our country, more than 317 thousand people have already died from the coronavirus. Human.