More than half of people in Europe could be infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the next six to eight weeks, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, amid “a new west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across the region.”

“The region saw over seven million cases of Covid-19 in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period,” Hans Kluge, the agency’s regional director for Europe, said at a news conference.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), is all but ensured to lead the organization for a second term, from 2022 to 2027, because he is the only candidate in the race. As a matter of procedure, on 25 January, the WHO’s executive board is expected to nominate him for re-election in May.

The probable extension of his leadership occurs against the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as the health agency continues to advise countries on how to curb the coronavirus’s devastation.

The more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild", World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday.

Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation from the variant first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November compared with Delta.

The World Health Organization has said people who are unwell or at risk of developing severe Covid-19 should delay travel because of the Omicron variant.

In its latest travel advisory, the UN agency includes in that category people over 60, and those with conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

It also restates its position that blanket travel bans do not prevent the spread of the variant.

South Africa alerted the world about the variant last week.

Many countries then proceeded to impose restrictions on travel from countries in southern Africa.

President Biden on Monday said he will unveil his plan Thursday to tackle the new omicron variant of COVID-19, saying the strategy will not include more lockdowns. Instead, Biden plans to rely on vaccinations to combat the latest version of the virus to pose a serious threat.

Speaking during a meeting with CEOs of various companies to discuss the holiday shopping season and his administration’s work to address the supply chain crisis, Biden also said that Americans who are eligible for a booster shot have "no excuse" for not getting one.

President Biden on Monday urged Americans to remain calm as scientists work to determine the strength and the transmissibility of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, saying the U.S. has the ability to deal with the new strain that is circulating the globe.

President Biden on Monday described the omicron variant of COVID-19 as a "cause for concern" but not a cause for panic, saying Americans getting vaccinated and getting their booster shots is the best defense against the virus.

He also said officials would release more guidance on how they plan to fight the spread of COVID-19 this winter, but promised it wouldn't include lockdowns.

There has been lots of head-scratching since Friday, when the World Health Organization decided that B.1.1.529, the new COVID-19 variant that was first detected in South Africa, would be named omicron. In doing so, the WHO decided to skip over two letters in the Greek alphabet: nu and xi. The reasons for doing this remained a bit of a mystery until the WHO itself clarified the issue on Saturday. Turns out it was all about avoiding confusion and preventing unnecessarily offending a large group of people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday it did not name the newly-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 the “Xi” variant because it may “cause offence.”

According to the Greek alphabet being used by the WHO to classify COVID-19 variants, the next two variants to be named by the organization should be “Nu” and “Xi.” However, due to the body’s best practices for naming new diseases, developed in 2015, it skipped over both names and jumped to the Omicron variant.

The world’s major manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines said Friday that they are working to quickly investigate and adapt their shots to a new and highly mutated strain of the virus.

The World Health Organization on Friday said the new strain, named omicron, is a “variant of concern” that may pose a higher risk of reinfection than past mutations of the virus.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they are investigating omicron, first labeled B.1.1.529, and can adapt their vaccine quickly if needed.