The force with which the omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading is affecting different services, such as transport, due to the absence of workers, while more cases arrive at hospitals, not necessarily more serious, which also alter their operation.
COVID-19 cases in the world increased by 11% last week, due to the rise of the most contagious omicron variant in many countries, although deaths globally fell by 4%, which seems to indicate a lower severity of many of the cases of the new strain.
According to the weekly epidemiological report of the World Health Organization (WHO), from December 20 to 26, 4.9 million cases were confirmed on the planet, the highest figure in almost seven months, while the deaths were 44,000, a number very similar to that registered each week in the last three months.
America It was the region that registered the highest increase in cases last week, of 39% (1.4 million), while Europe led in absolute numbers, with 2.8 million infections, 3% more than in the previous seven days.
Altered services
In Italy The increase in infections and quarantines that this avalanche of cases entails are causing train cancellations and extremely long waits to be able to get a coronavirus test, among other problems.
It is currently estimated that in Italy There are some 2.5 million people immobilized in their homes due to the virus and some localities in the north of the country, such as Lodi and Codgono, where the pandemic began in Europe in February 2020, have asked the Army for help to manage the test centers before the flood of patients who must wait several hours to achieve their goal.
For his part, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, admitted this Wednesday that the omicron variant continues to cause “real problems”In UK hospitals, but is not currently contemplating introducing new restrictions in England.
“One is seeing that cases are increasing in hospitals“Because of the spread of omicron, but”it is obviously milder than the delta variant and allows us to proceed the way we do“Added the head of government.
Johnson has ruled out introducing new restrictive measures this week in England, where it is mandatory to wear a mask in public transport and closed places, while a COVID certificate must be presented to enter large events.
Measures against COVID-19
The Israeli health authorities are evaluating changing their response strategy to the pandemic, in the midst of the omicron’s spread, to promote a “mass contagion model”Of that variant that causes a mild illness, instead of imposing more restrictions.
With the infection rate continuously increasing, with almost 3,000 new positives for the second consecutive day – a maximum of three months – experts from the Ministry of Health are considering a change in policy to achieve herd immunity through massive infections with the variant omicron, according to Hebrew media.
Spain has increased the requirements in the health controls of entry to the country for passengers from places considered high risk, given the worsening of their epidemiological situation due to omicron.
A regulation of the Spanish Ministry of Health published this Wednesday establishes the requirements that will be requested from Thursday, which include, in addition to a diagnostic test with a negative result, a document that certifies that they have been vaccinated or that they have recovered from the disease.
The French Assembly begins to examine this Wednesday the bill approved by the Government to accelerate vaccination against the fifth wave of COVID, which requires to be inoculated to be able to go to bars, restaurants, libraries, sports facilities or transport.
The objective of the French Executive is that the text can be approved in the coming weeks and enter into force in mid-January.
The French government intends to convert the current health pass into a vaccination pass. In this way, only those vaccinated will be able to enter restaurants, cafes, libraries, sports facilities or transport. Until now, a non-vaccinated person could do so by showing a negative test.
For their part, the Italian regions have asked the Scientific Technical Council, the body that advises the government on the pandemic, that quarantines be abolished for those vaccinated with three doses due to close contact with a positive, although the reduction of the deadlines of isolation seems the most likely decision of the experts.
The reduction, if approved, would be from next January, since now there is a quarantine of between seven and ten days, depending on the level of vaccination.
Vaccination continues to be a preferred measure throughout the world and, in this regard, the global campaign of punctures against COVID-19 has already exceeded 9,000 million inoculations, with which 57% of the world population has received the minus one dose, although this percentage drops to 8% in low-income countries, according to WHO data.
The numbers
In South Africa the cases of contagion – it was the first country to give the alert about the omicron variant – continue to decline rapidly, as well as the rate of positivity of the tests carried out. According to the latest data provided by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the total of new infections this week fell below 10,000 a day and the positivity of diagnostic tests did so below 25%.
The India registered just over 9,000 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, a 44% rise in a single day that puts the Asian country on alert amid the rapid advance of the omicron variant, and reverses the sustained recovery curve that it had been experiencing for some time. weeks this nation of 1.35 billion people.
Although these numbers are still among the lowest data recorded by the nation so far this year, the appearance of cases of the omicron variant in 21 of the 28 states of the country coincides with the general increase in positives.
For its part, Russia this Wednesday registered less than 22,000 new infections of COVID-19 for the second consecutive day and 932 deaths from the infectious disease, the country’s health authorities reported today. In neighboring Belarus, the first four cases of the omicron variant were detected in the country on Wednesday, according to health authorities. None of them are serious.
In Germany the downward trend in infections continues amid mistrust that this decline reflects the current situation with the advance of the omicron variant.
According to the latest figures from the Robert Koch Institute of Virology, in the last 24 hours there were 40,043 new infections compared to 45,659 a week ago. Most epidemiologists warn that there is a strong spread of omicron, which means that the downward trend must be expected to reverse.
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Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
