Georgian health official: Omicron strain of coronavirus to increase burden on hospitals

The Omicron variant has not been reported in Georgia so far.

Agenda.ge, 17 Dec 2021 - 14:56, Tbilisi,Georgia

Deputy head of Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control, Paata Imnadze, says that the new variant of coronavirus dubbed Omicron is ‘very likely’ to infect many, ‘particularly unvaccinated’ individuals, and there will be more of a need for hospital beds than at present.

The strain, which is believed to cause less severe health complications than, for instance, the currently dominant Delta variant, has not been reported in Georgia so far. 

However, Imnadze says that it will appear in the country soon, as the variant ’is spreading relatively faster’ than other variants.

Imnadze called on the public to get vaccinated and wear facemasks to ‘meet the new variant prepared.’ 

Georgia has reported 2,979 new cases of coronavirus, 3,470 recoveries and 53 deaths in the past 24 hours. 

38,624 remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia as of today. 

1,245,341 individuals have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the country since March 2021, of whom 1,063,784 have been fully vaccinated.