The number of new COVID-19 cases worldwide has increased by 11% over the past week, and the rapid spread of Delta and Omicron strains could lead to “tsunami cases.” This was announced today by the head of the WHO, Tedros Adan Ghebreyesus.
“I am highly concerned that Omicron being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta – is leading to a tsunami of [#COVID19] cases.”-@DrTedros
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 29, 2021
He stressed that due to the “delta” and “omicron” variants, the number of cases of infection is increasing, at the same time, the number of hospitalizations and deaths is increasing. Of particular concern to the head of WHO is the fact that the omicron variant is more contagious. “This could lead to a tsunami of cases, which could significantly increase the pressure on health systems around the world,” said the head of the international organization.
The virus is spreading especially actively in the countries of the Americas, where the number of diseases increased by 39%.
However, preliminary data from South Africa, the United Kingdom and Denmark indicate a reduced risk of hospitalization for the omicron, he said. Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus added that experts need more information to understand what exactly affects the severity of the disease. In addition, it is necessary to establish how the severity may be affected by vaccination or previous infection.
Meanwhile, as it became known, the number of new COVID-19 infections in the United States per day on Monday was a record since the beginning of the pandemic: 441.3 thousand. Such data were published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In turn, the Minister of Health of France Olivier Veran said today that over the past day, a record 208 thousand new cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded in the country.
Records for the number of infected have been updated in the last few days in many other countries, for example, in the UK, Italy, Greece, Portugal, writes Kommersant.
Reuters adds that the number of new infections worldwide over the past seven days has also reached a record high: almost 900 thousand new cases were recorded daily in the world from December 22 to 28.
On the eve of the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova said that the situation with the spread of coronavirus in Russia may worsen after the New Year holidays. According to her, taking into account the upcoming weekend, when the number of contacts between people is already increasing, the risks of the spread of the omicron strain are increasing. This can ultimately lead to a worsening of the epidemiological situation.
Source: Rosbalt
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