{"id":44874,"date":"2021-12-03T14:02:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T14:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailysouthafrica.com\/?p=44874"},"modified":"2021-12-03T14:02:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T14:02:58","slug":"who-chief-scientist-says-omicron-quite-infectious-must-not-panic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailysouthafrica.com\/who-chief-scientist-says-omicron-quite-infectious-must-not-panic\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO chief scientist says Omicron ‘quite infectious’, must not panic"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Francesco Guarascio and Stephanie Nebehay (Reuters) -The World Health Organization’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told Reuters on Friday that while the new coronavirus variant Omicron appeared to be very transmissible, the right response was to be prepared, cautious and not panic. The WHO has urged countries to boost healthcare capacity and vaccinate their people to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, saying travel curbs could buy time but alone were not the answer. “How worried should we be? We need to be prepared and cautious, not panic, because we’re in a…<\/p>\n