Top US scientist Anthony Fauci has said that while it would take weeks to judge the severity of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, early indications suggested it was not worse than prior strains, and possibly milder.
Speaking to reporters, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor broke down the knowns and unknowns about Omicron into three major areas: transmissibility, how well it evades immunity from prior infection and vaccines, and severity of illness.
The new variant is "clearly highly transmissible," very likely more so than Delta, the current dominant global strain, Mr Fauci said.
Accumulating epidemiological data from around the world also indicates re-infections are higher with Omicron.
Mr Fauci, the long-time director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said lab experiments that tested the potency of antibodies from current vaccines against Omicron should come in the "next few days to a week."
On the question of severity, "it almost certainly is not more severe than Delta," he said.
"There is some suggestion that it might even be less severe, because when you look at some of the cohorts that are being followed in South Africa, the ratio between the number of infections and the number of hospitalisations seems to be less than with Delta."
But he added it was important to not over-interpret this data because the populations being followed skewed young, and were less likely to become hospitalised.
"I think that's going to take another couple of weeks at least in South Africa," where the variant was first reported in November, he said.
"As we get more infections throughout the rest of the world, it might take longer to see what's the level of severity."
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Mr Fauci said a more transmissible virus that doesn't cause more severe illness and doesn't lead to a surge of hospitalisations and deaths was the "best case scenario."
"The worst case scenario is that it is not only highly transmissible, but it also causes severe disease and then you have another wave of infections that are not necessarily blunted by the vaccine or by people's prior infections," he added.
"I don't think that worst case scenario is going to come about, but you never know."
Sweden introduces anti-Covid measures as a 'precaution'
Sweden has said it would introduce a series of anti-Covid measures as a "precaution", with the Scandinavian country currently being spared the high infection rates seen in much of Europe.
A vaccination pass introduced on 1 December for indoor events of more than 100 people will be extended to restaurants and gyms in the near future, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told reporters.
No date has been set yet, but it will likely be in effect in the next few weeks. The pass provides proof that holders are fully vaccinated.
Working from home when possible was also recommended as of tomorrow, as was social distancing and the use of face masks in public transport when crowding is inevitable.
Sweden has stood out during the pandemic with its softer approach, refusing to introduce any type of lockdown and only recommending limited use of face masks.
It did however limit the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings, as well as opening hours at bars and restaurants. It also banned visits to elderly homes.
Sweden's death toll, which is just over 15,000 of the 10.3 million population, is around the European average.
But it is significantly higher than those of its neighbours Norway, Finland and Denmark, sparking heated debate about the Swedish strategy.
Even with the emergence of the Omicron variant, Sweden has no plans to change its approach, "which has worked in the past", chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said last week.
While infections are now on the rise, the number of Covid cases and deaths in Sweden are currently among the lowest in Europe, with 26 deaths and fewer than 15,000 cases during the past week, according to an AFP tally.
German man kills family over fake Covid pass: prosecutors
A German man killed his wife and three children before taking his own life, leaving behind a note that said he feared being jailed for faking a Covid-19 health pass, prosecutors said.
All five bodies were found in the family's home in Koenigs Wusterhausen outside Berlin on Saturday, Brandenburg state prosecutors said.
The 40-year-old father said in the note that he had secured a fake coronavirus vaccine pass for his wife.
But her boss spotted the fraud and planned to investigate, Cottbus prosecutors' spokesman Gernot Bantleon said.
"The father expected that he and his wife would be jailed and their children taken away," the spokesperson said.
Investigators believe the man killed the children aged four, eight and ten and his 40-year-old wife before killing himself.
Neighbours called emergency services after seeing the lifeless bodies in the house.
German authorities have repeatedly warned of the spread of fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates, in a country hit especially hard by the latest coronavirus wave compared to its neighbours.
Omicron cases doubling every two days - scientist
Cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the UK are soon expected to be higher than in some African countries placed on their travel red list, a scientist has warned.
Professor Tim Spector said early data suggests cases of the coronavirus mutation are doubling every two days, putting it on course to overtake some of the 11 countries from where travellers to the UK are now required to quarantine to try to stymie community transmission.
New rules came into force earlier today, requiring all travellers to take a pre-departure test before heading to England. They will not be able to travel if they test positive.
Prof Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London, told BBC Breakfast there was "very little point" in having travel restrictions if case numbers exceeded those in red list countries.
He said: "The official estimates are about 350-odd Omicron cases, and because the current testing is missing a lot of those, it's probably at least 1,000 to 2,000 I would guess at the moment.
"And we are expecting this to be doubling about every two days at the moment, so if you do your maths - assume it's 1,000 at the moment, and you think it's going to be doubling every two days, you can see that those numbers are going to be pretty (high) certainly in about 10 days' time.
"By that time, we'll probably have more cases than they will in some of those African countries.
"So I think these travel restrictions do perhaps have their place initially when cases are really low here and really high in the other country, but when we reach that equilibrium, there's very little point in having them in my opinion."
Early data suggests Omicron is more transmissible, although milder, than the Delta variant, which is currently dominant in the UK.
The British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs yesterday that none of the Omicron variant cases identified to date had resulted in hospital admission.
WHO Europe says Covid vaccine mandates should be 'last resort'
The World Health Organization in Europe cautioned against making Covid vaccines mandatory, while urging better protection of children among whom cases are high.
WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said compulsory vaccines should be "an absolute last resort and only applicable when all other feasible options to improve vaccination uptake have been exhausted".
Noting that mandates have increased vaccine uptake in some cases, Mr Kluge said that these are "context specific", and added that the effect mandates may have on "public confidence and public trust" must also be considered.
The regional health bloc also noted that number of cases had increased "across all age groups, with the highest rates currently observed in the five to 14 years age group."
"It is not unusual today to see two to three times higher incidence among young children than in the average population," Mr Kluge told a press conference.
"The health risks extend beyond the children themselves," Mr Kluge added, noting that children risk passing the infection to parents and grandparents in the home.
Improved ventilation and the use of masks should be a standard at all primary schools as part of a safe learning environment, while avoiding school closures and remote learning, the regional director said.
"Vaccinating children should be discussed and considered nationally," Mr Kluge added.
The WHO's European region comprises 53 countries and territories, and includes several in Central Asia.
