The total number of COVID-19 cases registered worldwide on Friday passed 300 million, with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2’s rapid spread setting new infection records in dozens of countries over the past week.
Thirty-four countries have in the past seven days recorded their highest number of weekly cases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including 18 nations in Europe and seven in Africa, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official figures.
While far more contagious than previous variants, Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than its predecessors.
Photo: AFP
Even as it spurred the world to a record 13.5 million cases in the past week alone — 64 percent higher than the previous seven days — the global average of deaths dropped 3 percent.
France’s public health authority on Friday said that the risk of hospitalization was about 70 percent lower for Omicron, citing data from Canada, Israel, the UK and the US.
However with a global average of 2 million new cases being detected daily, experts have said that that the sheer numbers threaten to overwhelm health systems.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Omicron should not be categorized as mild, as it “is hospitalizing people and it is killing people.”
“In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world,” he said.
Omicron’s dizzying spread since being detected six weeks ago has prompted many nations to push harder for more vaccinations and some to clamp down with restrictions.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that access to the country’s bars and restaurants would be limited to those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the virus and can also provide a negative test result.
However, people who have received a booster shot would be exempted from the test requirement.
In Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer tested positive for COVID-19.
“No cause for worry, I’m fine,” he said. “I continue to plead: Get vaccinated.”
As cases skyrocket in the US — which also broke its daily caseload record this week — US President Joe Biden said that COVID-19 “as we are dealing with it now is not here to stay ... but having COVID in the environment — here and in the world — is probably here to stay.”
In India, Omicron-led rising case numbers have brought fears of a return to the country’s darkest pandemic days last year, when thousands were dying of COVID-19 every day.
Gautam Menon, a professor of physics and biology at India’s Ashoka University who has worked on COVID-19 infection modeling, said that “this could potentially stress out healthcare systems to levels comparable to or worse than the second wave.”
However, Kolkata’s High Court rejected a bid to cancel a major Hindu festival, despite fears the virus could spread rapidly among the 500,000 expected attendees.
“People from all states in the country will attend the religious festival and take a holy dip,” environmentalist Subhash Dutta said. “They may carry variant viruses and this religious festival may end up being the biggest superspreader in the coming days.”
STRATEGY TWEAK: Arrivals to Taiwan testing positive for COVID-19 are to be escorted to an ambulance via a special exit and hospitalized, the health minister said Starting today, arrivals on long-haul flights must wait for the results of COVID-19 tests before finishing airport entry procedures, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The center also reported six locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, possibly linked to the airport cluster, and 26 imported cases. As more than two dozen local COVID-19 cases have since Monday last week been reported among workers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and their close contacts, as well as a few people likely linked to them, the center on Sunday said that entry quarantine procedures would be revised. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中),
SEARCH CONTINUES: The fighter jet disappeared from radar screens at 3:23pm, about 30 minutes after it took off, air force Major General Liu Hui-chien said Search-and-rescue teams yesterday searched for an air force pilot after his F-16V Block 20 jet went missing during an afternoon bombing exercise near the coastline of Chiayi County’s Dongshih Township (東石鄉), the air force said. The search continued as of press time last evening. The single-seat jet (serial number 6650) disappeared from radar screens at 3:23pm, about 30 minutes after it took off from Chiayi Air Base, air force Inspector General Major General Liu Hui-chien (柳惠千) told a news conference in Taipei. All F-16Vs are temporarily suspended from exercises pending the completion of emergency checks on the fleet, he said. The fighter piloted by
LUNAR NEW YEAR: The nation is expecting 4,200 international travelers to arrive today and 3,900 tomorrow, as people return home for the holidays, the CECC said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said it expects imported cases of COVID-19 to further increase today and tomorrow — the peak period for international arrivals before the Lunar New Year holiday. The nation has seen more imported cases of COVID-19 since it implemented a new policy on Tuesday requiring travelers on long-haul flights to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival. Those who test positive are taken directly to hospitals from airports. Most of the recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 were travelers arriving from the US, CECC data showed. On Tuesday, 58 of the 625 travelers arriving at Taiwan
TRACEABLE: The expansion of a cluster infection appears to be slowing, as genome sequencing results show a clearer link among confirmed cases, Chen Shih-chung said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 96 COVID-19 infections: four domestic and 92 imported cases. Three of the domestically transmitted cases are bank workers likely linked to previously reported airport clusters, it added. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, attributed the high number of imported cases in part to the implementation on Tuesday of a tighter entry policy. Travelers arriving on long-haul flights are immediately tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and must wait for results of their rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on site. Those who test negative are allowed to proceed with normal
RSS