DM Monitoring
Ankara: As the omicron variant races out of control, pushing global COVID-19 infections to record highs over the last seven days, governments are attempting to contain its spread without paralyzing fragile economies. Almost 900,000 cases were detected on average each day worldwide between Dec. 22 and 28, according to Reuters data. A number of countries posted all-time highs during the previous 24 hours, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, the United States and many nations in Europe. Studies have suggested omicron is less deadly than some previous variants. But the sheer number of people testing positive could overwhelm hospitals in some countries and leave businesses struggling to carry on without workers who government officials have ordered to quarantine.
Researchers in South Africa found that a key part of the immune system’s second-line defense, its T cells, are highly effective at recognizing and attacking the omicron variant, preventing most infections from progressing to critical illness. Political leaders in some nations, fearful of the economic impact of keeping so many workers at home, were considering shortening the period required for isolation after a positive COVID-19 test or exposure. Spain said on Wednesday it was reducing the quarantine period to seven days from 10, while Italy said it was planning to relax isolation rules for those who came into close contact with sufferers of the virus.
Earlier this week U.S. health authorities released new guidance shortening the isolation period for people with a confirmed infection to five days from 10, so long as they are asymptomatic. “I am highly concerned that Omicron, being highly transmissible and spreading at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing.
New Year’s Eve will mark the second anniversary of China alerting the WHO to 27 cases of “viral pneumonia” of unknown origin in the city of Wuhan. More than 281 million people have since been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and more than 5 million have died, according to a Reuters tally.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran told lawmakers France was seeing a “dizzying” rise in cases, with 208,000 reported in the space of 24 hours, a national and European record. Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Greek Cyprus and Malta all registered record numbers of new cases on Tuesday, while the seven-day average number of new daily cases in the United States hit a record 258,312, according to a Reuters tally on Wednesday.
