Since the pandemic began, more than 300 million Covid-19 infections have been reported worldwide, with the current variety of concern (VOC) Omicron (B.1.1.529) spreading fast across multiple nations.
Over the last week, record daily Covid-19 infections have been recorded in 34 countries, including 18 in Europe and seven in Africa. This is mostly due to the Omicron variation, which appears to be substantially more transmissible than previous versions despite producing less severe sickness.
According to the news agency AFP, the globe had an alarmingly high caseload of 13.5 million infections last week, 64 percent more than the previous week’s total, while global fatalities fell by 3%.
According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States had 791,734 new cases and 1,989 fatalities in only 24 hours (USCDC). Over the course of the week, roughly 1,296 persons out of every 100,000 in the country tested positive for HIV. In all, 58,689,973 cases and 831,729 fatalities have been reported in the United States, making it the country with the highest number of cases and deaths worldwide.
On Friday, 178,250 persons were diagnosed positive for the illness in the United Kingdom, where the Omicron variety is driving the outbreak, bringing the overall caseload to 14,193,228. Also on that day, 229 people died, bringing the total death toll to 149,744.
Meanwhile, numerous European nations have recorded a substantial increase in everyday infections. On Friday, France had 328,214 new cases, while Italy saw 108,304 new cases. In all, France recorded 11,183,238 cases, the most of any European Union country.
China’s health ministry reported 159 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, with 95 of them being domestically transmitted. There were 16,735 cases documented in Russia, with 787 fatalities.
The World Health Organization has expressed its concern about the growing strain on healthcare systems throughout the world as a result of the Omicron variant’s higher hospitalizations.
“The tsunami of cases is so large and fast that health systems all over the world are being overwhelmed.” Hospitals are growing overcrowded and understaffed, resulting in unnecessary fatalities from COVID-19 and other illnesses and injuries when patients are unable to receive prompt care,” stated WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
