WHO has no reports yet of Omicron Covid deaths

The WHO said it was collecting evidence about the variant of concern, as countries around the world scramble to stop it spreading.

But despite a growing number of countries reporting infections with the new variant, no deaths have yet been reported to the UN health agency.

"I have not seen reports of Omicron-related deaths yet," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

"We're collecting all the evidence and we will find much more evidence as we go along.

"The more countries... keep testing people, and looking specifically into the Omicron variant, we will also find more cases, more information, and, hopefully not, but also possibly deaths."