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Covid-19: WHO sounds warning over fast-spreading Omicron variant

Says Omicron is evading some immune responses; China must share more data on virus origins

Omicron could cause up to 75,000 deaths in UK by April end, study warns
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Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge | Reuters Geneva
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan added it would be "unwise" to conclude from early evidence that Omicron was a milder variant that previous ones.

"... with the numbers going up, all health systems are going to be under strain," Soumya Swaminathan told Geneva-based journalists.

The variant is successfully evading some immune responses, she said, meaning that the booster programmes being rolled out in

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