Omicron is a variant of the 2019 novel coronavirus that was first detected in South Africa on November 9, 2021.
On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization defined it as the fifth variant of concern, named the Greek letter Omicron, the Omicron variant. On November 29, the World Health Organization stated that the overall global risk assessment of the new coronavirus Omicron variant strain was very high and may spread widely around the world.
On January 4, 2022, WHO stated that 128 countries and regions had reported the discovery of the Omicron variant before the Christmas and New Year holidays. In April, Liang Wannian, leader of the expert group of the National Health Commission's Epidemic Response Leading Group, said that the case fatality rate of Omicron was 7.5 times that of influenza.
Discovery process
Omicron coronavirus is a new coronavirus variant discovered in the southern African country of Botswana. Its toxicity and transmissibility are more terrifying than the mutant strain Delta. There are 32 spike protein mutations, some of which can lead to virus mutation and immune evasion. After the spike protein mutates, the new coronavirus becomes more likely to attach to human cells, eventually leading to human infection with the new coronavirus.
Previously, a group of students were infected in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. The epidemic quickly developed from a few infections to thousands of people, and spread to other cities in South Africa. For this reason, South Africa quickly launched research. The first sample of this mutant strain was collected on November 9, 2021. After conducting research, South Africa reported the situation to the WHO on November 24 of the same year.