GLOBAL VISIBILITY AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

As of November 21, 2021, the weekly global incidence of COVID-19 has continued to rise for over a month. Since the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020 was characterized as a pandemic, areas such as international travel and transportation, and tourism have been severely affected. Potential Variant of Concern (VOC), Variant of Interest (VOI) or Volume Unit Meter (VUM) are regularly assessed based on the global public health risk, and options classification criteria and current lists are available on the WHO website. to track SARS-CoV-2 variants. On November 26, 2021, WHO designated Option B.1.1.529 as Variant of Concern (VOC) based on the recommendations of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution, and the option was named Omicron. The likelihood of further global spread of Omicron is high, and future outbreaks of COVID-19 will have serious consequences depending on the location of the spread. The overall global risk associated with the new Omicron is rated very high.