New Zealand's director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB he was keeping an open mind about Omicron. Video / Newstalk ZB
The South African Government says the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting children under five as experts rubbish the notion that the latest strain is "mild".
Government adviser Waasila Jassat told reporters in the Johannesburg area, where the virus is spreading widely, there has been "quite a sharp increase" in hospital admissions "across all age groups but particularly in the under-fives".
"The incidence in those under five is now second highest, second only to those over 60," she said.
"The trend that we're seeing now, that is different to what we've seen before, is a particular increase in hospital admissions in children under five years."
She continued, noting that the new strain was acting differently to those that came before.
"We've always seen children not being very heavily affected by the Covid epidemic in the past, not having many admissions."
A South African official has warned of the effect that Omicron is having on the very young. Photo / Getty Images
World-renowned Harvard-trained epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding responded to the news on social media.
"Mild my ass," he wrote. "The 'highly transmissible' Omicron variant is putting disproportionately large numbers of children under the age of 5 years old in hospitals.
"This hospital surge (in under-5s) is also interesting because the positivity rate of cases is not even the highest for kids age (under-5). Highest positivity is in teens 10-19."
The Daily Beast reports epidemiologist Michelle Groome told the virtual press conference in South Africa that seven-day average for cases in one badly-affected province had jumped from 332 to more than 4800 in three days.
5) this hospital surge is also interesting because the positivity rate of cases is not even the highest for kids age <5. Highest positivity is in teens 10-19. pic.twitter.com/fewPjBsbAg
There is some good news. The Omicron variant, detected in 38 countries including the US and Australia, has not yet resulted in a single death.
The World Health Organisation has warned it could take weeks to determine how infectious the variant is, whether it causes more severe illness and how effective current treatments and vaccines are against it.
"We're going to get the answers that everybody out there needs," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said overnight.
The WHO said it had still not seen any reports of deaths related to Omicron, but the new variant's spread has put recovery in doubt and led to warnings that it could cause more than half of Europe's Covid-19 cases in the next few months.
A health worker administers a nasal swab test at a Covid-19 mobile testing site outside Richmond Corner shopping centre in the Milnerton district of Cape Town. Photo / Getty Images
A preliminary study by researchers in South Africa, where the new variant was first reported on November 24, suggests the strain is three times more likely to cause reinfections compared to the Delta or Beta strains.
Doctors in South Africa said there had been a spike in the number of children under five admitted to hospital since Omicron emerged, but stressed it was too early to know if young children were particularly susceptible.
In the US, two cases involved residents with no recent international travel history — showing that Omicron is already circulating inside the country.
"This is a case of community spread," the Hawaii Health Department confirmed.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled his plans to battle Covid-19 during the winter, with new testing requirements for travellers and a surge in vaccination efforts.
Another grim Christmas on the way
The variant's detection and spread represent a major challenge to efforts to end the pandemic.
Rising infections of the Delta variant had already forced European governments to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing, social distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns, leaving businesses fearing another grim Christmas.
Belgian authorities said on Friday that primary schools would close a week early for the Christmas holidays.
Germany had already announced its regional leaders had agreed new measures including a ban on fireworks at new year parties to discourage large gatherings.
In the UK, various government ministers have been expressing divergent opinions, not only on the idea of hosting Christmas parties, but also on the kind of conduct deemed acceptable.
