For the 40th day in a row no deaths related to Covid-19 were reported in the Sultanate of Oman, yet, infections continue to rise, as the Ministry of Health recorded 60 new cases of the virus in last 3 days, bringing the total number of cases registered in the country to 304,843 cases.
The number of new inpatients in hospitals stood at zero, keeping the total number of inpatients 9, of which 2 are in intensive care.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said that 89 countries had detected infections with the Omicron mutant of the coronavirus, adding that the number of infections doubled within a day and a half and three days in areas experiencing a local outbreak.
It said in a statement that Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of vaccination in the population, yet, it was not clear whether the cause was the ability of the virus to resist the vaccine, its increased ability to spread, or both.
Regarding the effectiveness of vaccinations, experts said that the person recovering from a previous infection is estimated to be protected from infection by only 20 per cent and the recipient of two doses of the vaccine will be protected from infection only by about 30-35 per cent , but from severe infection by 70 per cent .
Dr Zaid al Hinai, a Consultant on Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, said: “With the emergence of the Omicron strain, the two doses of the vaccine lost a large part of its ability to reduce the spread of the virus, and a small part of its ability to protect against severe infection. The (third) booster dose restores this protection significantly, and therefore its role is important in the continuing pandemic control and risk reduction.”
