Confirmation of Omicron Virus by Genome Sequencing | 06 Dec 2021

Why in News

• On December 5, 2021, in the report of genome sequencing of a family from South Africa in Rajasthan, 9 people have been found to be suffering from the new variant Omicron of Corona.

Key Points

• The World Health Organization has identified the recently discovered strain B.1.1.1.529 of Kovid-19 as 'Variants of Concern - VOC'.
• The virus was first detected in South Africa and its name was changed to Omicron.
• Omicron has been placed in the most worrying category of COVID-19 variants along with the globally dominant Delta Plus and its weaker rivals Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
• However there is no reliable estimate of how much more infectious this Omicron variant is than the previous virus strain.
• In addition to South Africa, an Omicron variant has been identified in people arriving from Malawi, Botswana, Belgium and Hong Kong in Israel.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to name the variant based on the letters of the Greek alphabet instead of the countries where they were first identified.
• WHO chose the name Omicron instead of the two letters Nu or Xi between Mu and Omicron.