GENEVA (Reuters), – On Sunday, the World Health Organization said that Omicron Coronavirus was not more transmissible than SARS-CoV-2 variants and that severe diseases are possible.

According to it, preliminary data suggest that South Africa is experiencing an increasing rate of hospitalizations. This could not be due Omicron-specific infection, but rather because of the increase in overall infections.

In a statement however, the agency stated that there was preliminary evidence to suggest that the variant may pose a greater risk for reinfection.

According to the WHO, technical experts are working together with them in order to determine the possible impact of this variant on current countermeasures for COVID-19 and vaccines.

According to the WHO, “no evidence is available that Omicron-related symptoms might be different from any other variants.”

“Initial reported infections were among university studies —younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease — but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks,” it said.

Omicron is still being detected using PCR. It was discovered for the first time in South Africa, earlier this month. The WHO stated that studies continue to examine whether Omicron has an impact on quick antigen detection tests.