WHO: Omicron could become dominant strain of Covid-19

The latest variant of Covid-19, Omicron, has continued its spread. The World Health organisation has urged people not to panic over the new strain. The WHO said that Omicron could become the dominant strain of Covid-19 worldwide.

On this edition of Weekend, we speak to the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation, Dr Soumya Swaminathan.

Also in the programme: the refugee crisis caused by the war in Yemen, and the first literary work to come out of Myanmar since February’s military coup.

Joining Julian Worricker to discuss these and other issues are Amber Murrey, a political geographer and professor at the University of Oxford, and Dominic Jermey, Director-General of the Zoological Society of London and a former UK Ambassador to Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.

(Photo: A Thai health official collects swab samples for COVID-19 testing during a mass COVID-19 test to prevent the Omicron variant at a school in Thailand. CREDIT: EPA/NARONG SANGNAK)