Omicron Infections Doubling in 1.5 to 3 Days in Regions With Community Spread: WHO

Undated colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cell (blue) heavily infected with COVID-19 particles (red), isolated from a patient sample at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., on Oct. 31, 2020. NIAID

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that regions with community spread of Omicron were seeing cases doubling at a rate of once every 1.5 to 3 days, a higher pace than previous variants.

In a technical brief issued on Dec. 17, the health agency said that Omicron has been detected in 89 countries so far, with “consistent evidence” that it has a substantial growth advantage over the Delta variant and warning that the rapid spread of the new mutation threatens to overwhelm many healthcare systems “quickly.”