A top World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday that evidence is growing that shows the Omicron variant of the CCP virus is less severe compared to previous variants due to the disease affecting the upper respiratory tract. “We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs, who would be causing severe pneumonia,” WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud said during a news conference in Geneva. Mahamud’s remark on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus variant having a reduced risk of severe disease and death also echoes other data, including a report by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) that said most of the hospitalized patients admitted with COVID-19 did not need oxygen, a contrast to earlier in the pandemic. Though Mahamud hailed the growing evidence as possibly “good news”—at the same time, he …