The WHO classifies as “worrying” new variant of COVID-19 and will call it omicron

The new variant B.1.1.529 of the COVID-19, first detected in southern Africa, was classified on Friday as “worrying” by the World Health Organization (WHO) and will bear the name “omicron”.

“Variant B.1.1.529 was first reported to WHO by South Africa on November 24, 2021 (…). This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are worrisome”Said the group of experts commissioned by the WHO to follow the evolution of COVID-19.

Belgium announced on Friday that it was the first European country to have detected a case of the new variant and several countries have already canceled or restricted flights from southern Africa.

The identification of this potentially highly contagious and multi-mutated new variant of COVID-19 was announced Thursday in South Africa. A case has been detected in Hong Kong, another in Israel in a person returning from Malawi and another in Belgium.

News in development …