On Nov 25, 2021, about 23 months since the first reported case of COVID-19 and after a global estimated 260 million cases and 5·2 million deaths, a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), omicron, was reported.
For example, the increased transmissibility of the delta VOC was associated with, among others, a higher viral load, longer duration of infectiousness, and high rates of reinfection, because of its ability to escape from natural immunity, which resulted in the delta VOC rapidly becoming the globally dominant variant. The delta VOC continues to drive new waves of infection and remains the dominant VOC during the fourth wave in many countries. Concerns about lower vaccine efficacy because of new variants have changed our understanding of the COVID-19 endgame, disabusing the world of the notion that global vaccination is by itself adequate for controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection. Indeed, VOC have highlighted the importance of vaccination in combination with existing public health prevention measures, such as masks, as a pathway to viral endemicity.
The first sequenced omicron case was reported from Botswana on Nov 11, 2021, and a few days later another sequenced case was reported from Hong Kong in a traveler from South Africa.
Several sequences from South Africa followed, after initial identification that the new variant was associated with an S-gene target failure on a specific PCR assay because of a 69–70del deletion, similar to that observed with the alpha variant.
The earliest known case of omicron in South Africa was a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 on Nov 9, 2021, although it is probable that there were unidentified cases in several countries across the world before then. In South Africa, the mean number of 280 COVID-19 cases per day in the week before the detection of omicron increased to 800 cases per day in the following week, partly attributed to increased surveillance.
COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly in the Gluten province of South Africa; the early doubling time in the fourth wave is higher than that of the previous three waves.
Anthony Fauci claimed 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.
More data are needed to know if Omicron infections, and especially reinfections and breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated, cause more severe illness or death than infection with other variants.
If I have COVID-19, when will I feel better? Those with a mild case of COVID-19 usually recover within one to two weeks. For severe cases, recovery can take six weeks or more, and there may be lasting damage to the heart, kidneys, lungs and brain.
Recovered patients after acute COVID-19 illness may continue to experience various signs and symptoms including fatigue, body ache, cough, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, etc.
A “yellow alert” is put in place when the positivity rate for two consecutive days rises to more than 0.5% or if the cumulative single-day positive cases for a duration of seven days go beyond 1,500.
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