Omicron Crisis: The Global Economy Will Be Hit Again

Whipping up the atmosphere of omicron-hysteria is in many ways exaggerated and premature, as scientists from South Africa, who were the first to start researching a new strain, say, according to the popular Nezygar channel.

Contagious but seems to be weak

Apart from media hysteria, the dynamics of the virus mutations remain in the vector of a gradual movement towards finding a symbiotic balance with the human immune system. According to the researchers, the symptomatology of omicron in terms of the severity of the course of the disease is significantly weaker than the world wide delta, and despite the potential infectiousness of the strain, its appearance did not lead to an increase in the number of hospitalizations and mortality in South Africa.

The first studies refuted the myth about the resistance of the strain to current vaccines: despite the high scale of mutations, the vaccines used in South Africa by Johnson & Johnson were able to reduce the activity of the new strain, which, according to experts, due to the similarity of the vaccines, makes it possible to speak about the effectiveness of the Russian Sputnik V against the new strain.

It is noted that, despite the mutations, antibodies to delta and omicron strains do not have significant differences, which also eliminates the media myth about the danger of omicron for those who have been ill. “The strain is more infectious for those who have had a low index of antibodies, which of course does not mean a 100% probability of infection, but only speaks of a reduction in the safe period for those who have recovered,” the expert notes.

According to preliminary estimates of analysts, the high infectivity index of the new strain does indeed have the potential to crowd out other strains and increase global morbidity, which, however, can also reduce overall mortality rates and the number of hospitalizations, if the primary data from South African scientists are not just attempts to contain panic.

Analysts note that it is unambiguously early to talk about the degree of danger of the new strain - the long-term effects of the new strain on the human body have not been studied, and it is not clear how the strain will behave with wide distribution in terms of age.

A new stage of global closure begins

The scenario of the worldwide spread of the omicron strain is highly probable.

The strain has already been found on all continents, nevertheless, according to experts, the global panic around the strain was the result of the reactions of the governments of individual countries to the emerging media hysteria. The WHO, minus the classification of the strain as "of concern", did not call on countries to take any measures beyond research necessity.

The panic that arose after the publication of the organization turned out to be higher than the expectations of the WHO. At the moment, already 31 states, including Russia, have begun to restrict communication with countries in which the omicron strain has been identified.

The list of closed countries is not limited to the African continent and includes the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. While the WHO condemns governments for "hasty action", analysts are watching the rapidity of mutations in the headlines and talking about the beginning of a new stage of global closure.

WHO alarmists are losing credibility

“No matter how much the WHO now condemns countries for incorrect risk assessment, over the two years of the pandemic, the organization itself has not learned anything in terms of proportionality of statements to risks, but the players have learned to play on the decline. Two days after the WHO publications on the strain, the promotion of the global panic, the stock exchange indices fall by 3-5%, the fall in the shares of some air carriers reaches 20%; despite the fact that flights to Africa do not take even a tenth of the operations of these companies. Now even the most frightening predictions for a new strain promise more losses than a new wave of the next strain. Global investors and governments no longer trust WHO, in much the same way repeating the mistakes of past alpha, beta and delta crashes - WHO is in a deep crisis of confidence and will not be able to extinguish the panic it has launched, which means that even if fears about a new strain are not confirmed, the way out of the omicron-crisis will not be as fast as its beginning, ”the expert says.

A blow to the global economic system, meanwhile, is back on the agenda. The spread of the omicron strain of the coronavirus could lead to lower levels of employment and economic activity in the United States, and rising economic uncertainty will fuel inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a statement.