Warns Of The Danger Of Assuming Omicron To Be The Last Variant, WHO: Conditions Are Ideal For More Variants To Appear

Director-General of WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Wikimedia Commons/ITU Pictures)

JAKARTA - Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would mark the end of the most acute phase of COVID-19, urging countries to stay focused on beating the pandemic.

"It's dangerous to assume Omicron will be the last variant and we're at the end of the game," said Dr. Tedros is at a WHO executive board meeting on a two-year pandemic that has killed nearly 6 million people, citing Reuters January 25.

"On the other hand, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge," he continued, warning.

Although the Omicron variant has sent total cases soaring to nearly 350 million, its less-lethal impact and increasing prevalence of the vaccine has led to optimism in some parts that the worst of the pandemic may have passed.

Dr. Tedros, who is the first WHO leader from the African continent, urged all countries to be disciplined and united, in fighting the coronavirus pandemic to completion.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical point," he explained, in a previous press conference.

"We must work together to end the acute phase of this pandemic. We cannot allow it to drag on, moving between panic and neglect," said Dr. Tedros.

According to him, countries should maximize the strategies and tools already available, such as testing and inoculation, so that the global health emergency ends this year.