The heads of the Ministries of Health of the G7 countries called "omicron" the most dangerous threat

The new omicron strain of COVID-19 poses the greatest threat to global health. This conclusion was reached during the summit by the ministers of health of the G7 countries, the UK Ministry of Health reported.

"Deeply concerned about the rising number of cases, ministers agreed that these events should be seen as the biggest current threat to global public health," the statement said.

The heads of ministries also concluded that collaborative work that promotes equal access to diagnostics, genome sequencing of the virus, vaccines and therapeutics is critical in responding to the growing number of people infected with the omicron strain.

A day earlier, on December 16, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the omicron strain was spreading "extremely rapidly." According to WHO Special Representative for Coronavirus Control David Nabarro, the number of new cases is doubling every two to three days. The spread of omicron would be a "shock" for the UK health system, even if the variant's low fatality rate is confirmed, he warned.