By AFP 11 January 2022 | 12:37 pm More than half of people in Europe are on track to contract the Omicron coronavirus variant in the next two months if infections continue at current rates, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. A photo taken in the late hours of August 17, 2020 shows a sign of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) More than half of people in Europe are on track to contract the Omicron coronavirus variant in the next two months if infections continue at current rates, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference, regional director Hans Kluge warned that the Omicron variant represented a “new west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across” the European region. “At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasts that more than 50 percent of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next six to eight weeks,” Kluge told reporters. The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries and territories including several in Central Asia, and Kluge noted that 50 of them had confirmed cases of the Omicron variant. According to the WHO, 26 of those countries reported that over one percent of their populations were “catching Covid-19 each week,” as of January 10, and that the region had seen over seven million new virus cases reported in the first week of 2022 alone. Referencing data collected over the last few weeks, Kluge said the variant was confirmed to be more transmissible and “the mutations it has enable it to adhere to human cells more easily, and it can infect even those who have been previously infected or vaccinated.” However, Kluge also stressed that “approved vaccines do continue to provide good protection against severe disease and death, including for Omicron.” Latest NOW Comedian Francis Agoda, popularly known as I Go Dye, has dedicated his United Nations Eminent Global Peace Advocate Appointment and Award to victims of the #EndSARS protests. I Go Dye made this dedication on Instagram sharing a picture of himself with the award. “I wholeheartedly dedicate this United Nations Eminent Global Peace Advocate Appointment and… 1 hour ago A man suspected of starting a fire that gutted South Africa’s parliament made a second court appearance on Tuesday to face a new charge of terrorism, in addition to robbery and arson accusations. 1 hour ago South African police have arraigned Nicholas Ogbeifun, a Nigerian rapper over the killing of another Nigerian man. Nigeriabroad reported that the Nigerian was killed at a petrol station on Central Avenue, in the Kempton Park area, Gauteng, on Monday last week. It led to a police chase and a deadly shoot-out. Two Nigerians were left… 1 hour ago The US Secret Service arrested a 72-year-old man in New York on Monday after he allegedly phoned them threatening to kill ex-president Donald Trump, a criminal indictment showed. 1 hour ago Bob Saget’s daughter Aubrey has shared the final text she received from her father before his sudden death. Aubrey posted a screengrab of the text message from the comedian, which was sent while he was on his I Don’t Do Negative stand-up tour. “Thank u. Love u. Showtime!” he wrote to her. The Full House actor, who passed away…
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