A quarter of new coronavirus cases recorded in Togo are omicron cases. The information was disclosed on Wednesday by the National Team in charge of Coordinating the Response against the virus (CNGR).
“The Omicron variant is here, and sequencing has shown that it represents 25% of cases, it is more contagious than the old Delta variant. We have gone from 2.5% positivity (number of positive results out of 100 tests performed, ed. note) to 12.5% positivity,” said Col. Djibril Mohaman, who heads the CNGR.
The new strain drives an increase in the number of cases in Togo – this, after many weeks of lull following Delta wave’s ending.”Through the week going from December 15 to 21, we have recorded 469 new cases, against 117 the week before, and 61 a week back. Also, we recorded three deaths this week,” Mohaman added. In this context, the CNGR urges the population to get vaccinated to mitigate the virus’ impact.
Omicron: A more contagious but less severe variant?
While it appears to be more contagious than other variants, the new Omicron strain seems less deadly than its predecessors.
According to a study released by the South African Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), initial data collected shows that people infected with Omicron are 80% less likely to be hospitalized. While this study has not yet been peer reviewed, its conclusions coincide with some preliminary studies in England which suggest that Omicron is more contagious but less severe (causing mild and flu-like symptoms).
Regardless, many experts still worry that Omicron’s high transmissibility may lead to more severe forms of the disease.
To date, Togo has distributed 2.29 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, representing 28.4 doses per 100 inhabitants, and 11.5% of the population have been fully vaccinated with two doses.
