{"id":546086,"date":"2021-12-11T11:09:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T09:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=546086"},"modified":"2021-12-11T11:09:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T09:09:39","slug":"two-weeks-into-the-omicron-outbreak-what-we-know-and-where-to-from-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/546086\/two-weeks-into-the-omicron-outbreak-what-we-know-and-where-to-from-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Two weeks into the Omicron outbreak: What we know and where to from here?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little more than two weeks since omicron\u2019s discovery a lot has been learned about the latest coronavirus variant. A lot remains to be discovered.<\/p>\n

Early data from South Africa, the epicenter so far, shows that the virus appears to spread far faster than earlier strains but also doesn\u2019t appear to be causing severe disease.<\/p>\n

Nothing is definitive yet, so the world is still somewhat in the dark. With omicron cases doubling every few days in the U.K. and spreading in other places, policymakers and investors are grasping at\u00a0any clues.<\/p>\n

They had been moving toward the end of year with a little hope that the Covid era was shifting into a newer, more manageable phase.<\/p>\n

But now it\u2019s not clear yet if 2022 will succeed where 2021 has been\u00a0defeated: suppress the spread of the virus enough to stop the rolling infection waves and finally end social restrictions.<\/p>\n

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Initial lab studies indicate omicron is much more transmissible than even delta, the strain that spread rapidly across the globe, filling hospitals and boosting death rates.<\/p>\n

They also show that it can infect the vaccinated or those who have already been ill with Covid-19.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s not known yet is how it developed, and whether it will cause more severe disease in countries with older populations than South Africa.<\/p>\n

Also unclear is if it can out-compete delta in places where that version is dominant now, such as Europe and the U.S. New cases in South Africa, following a severe delta-led third wave, were negligible for weeks before omicron\u2019s unwelcome emergence.<\/p>\n

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said this week that information so far points to a less severe mutation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big challenge we\u2019re going to have is confirming that over the next two weeks,\u201d he said on his Osterhom Update podcast. \u201cFrom there, then we can figure out what does it mean in terms of the next leg of the pandemic for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is what we know so far:<\/p>\n

How fast is omicron spreading?<\/strong><\/p>\n