Norway Discovers 50 Omicron Variant Cases

On Thursday, Norway announced that it is discovered 50 cases infected with the recently emerged Omicron COVID-19 variant, RT reported.

All the cases were detected in Oslo, and they were linked to a party hosted at a restaurant in the capital, therefore, authorities are selecting all the guests at the party, and those who contacted them directly.

Being all cases live in Oslo and nearby suburbs, the government hopes to detect more cases.

The new Omicron version, which was discovered initially in South Africa, has heightened global anxieties because it is thought to be more deadly than the delta variant.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated it as a ‘variant of concern’ on Friday.

The new South African strain has been designated as a source of concern by  WHO because it has a high number of mutations (32), potentially making it more transmissible and deadly andi has a high number of mutations (32), potentially making it more transmissible and deadly.

The WHO has given it the name Omicron, which is the Greek alphabet’s 15th letter.

Following news of the new variant, the US, the EU, Canada, Israel, Australia, and other countries have imposed travel restrictions on many southern African countries due to health concerns.

On Monday, WHO said that the omicron Covid variant is likely to spread further and poses a “very high” global risk, warning that surges of Covid infections caused by the variant of concern could have “severe consequences” for some areas.

“Given mutations that may confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility advantage, the likelihood of potential further spread of Omicron at the global level is high,” WHO said in its risk assessment on Monday within a technical brief to its 194 member states.

“Depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of Covid-19, which could have severe consequences, depending on a number of factors including where surges may take place.

The overall global risk related to the new VOC [variant of concern] Omicron is assessed as very high,” the U.N. health agency said.

WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529, which was first spotted in South Africa, as a “variant of concern” last Friday.

It said in its report on Monday that it is “a highly pergent variant with a high number of mutations … some of which are concerning and may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility.”