World Health Organization officials say scientists are tracking a “worrying” increase in COVID-19 deaths as the Omicron variant continues its spread around the globe.
“Since Omicron was first identified just 10 weeks ago, almost 90 million cases have been reported to WHO,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization’s director-general, said during a press conference on Tuesday morning.
“We’re now starting to see a very worrying increase in deaths in most regions of the world.”
Tedros had warned just days ago that it would be “dangerous” for countries to assume that Omicron will be the final variant of concern to emerge from the pandemic, or that its rapid spread and highly infectious characteristics mean that “we are in the end game.”
The variant, first identified in late November 2021 by South African scientists, is now dominating the Delta variant in many regions of the world and is showing an increased ability compared with previous variants to infect people who are fully vaccinated.
Experts have long predicted that the sheer number of extra COVID-19 cases as a result of Omicron’s increased infectiousness would lead to a corresponding increase in deaths, even if the virus is not itself more deadly than previous variants.
U.S. deaths from COVID-19 hit an 11-month high on Sunday, according to a Reuters analysis.
Australia reported its deadliest day from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic on Jan. 28.
Total global deaths now stand at 5,676,248.
More than 1,000 people in Ontario died in the month of January — a number that had provincial health officials pondering the factors behind that rise, including the role of the sheer number of increased cases of Omicron.
While the vaccines are less effective at preventing Omicron infections, they remain highly effective at keeping people out of the hospitals and at preventing severe outcomes, including death.
A booster dose helps restore a higher level of protection against infection.
The WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove and other officials on Tuesday raised concerns about the spread of misinformation about vaccine effectiveness, as Van Kerkhove noted the scale of cases being reported is an “underestimate” given the extent of Omicron’s spread.
“What is more concerning right now for me, and I think for us, is that in the last few weeks, we’re seeing a sharp increase in deaths,” said Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19.
“That shouldn’t be happening at the present time.”
Some countries with high levels of vaccination are beginning to lift COVID-19 public health measures, including the United Kingdom and Denmark.
Some Canadian provinces are also taking similar steps, though modelling released from Ontario on Tuesday suggested doing so will see hospitalizations as a result of COVID-19 rebound with a “prolonged peak.”
That would follow a period of hard-won plateau after the province locked down over recent weeks in a bid to reduce spread and reduce the strain on hospitals that have been pushed to their limits.
That prolonged peak could last until March, the modelling suggested.
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Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam suggested last week that Canada may have reached the peak of the Omicron surge, while noting that case counts remain an underestimate and “lagging indicators” like hospitalization and deaths are expected to continue to rise.
Provincial health officials, as well as some federal opposition critics, are increasingly arguing that restrictions must lift and the time has come to “learn to live” with the virus.
The WHO’s Mike Ryan, head of the organization’s emergencies program, urged caution for all.
“My greatest fear at the moment is that countries have a lemming syndrome,” he said. “They open up on the basis that the country next door opened up.”
He urged countries to weigh their situations carefully, and to make decisions about lifting restrictions based on data and preparations to cope with any rising cases as a result — not “political pressure.”
“That will result in unnecessary transmission and unnecessary death.”
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