Covid variant ‘tsunami’ as world cases hit record

Highly transmissible Omicron propelled the US, France and Denmark to fresh records on Wednesday.

Nurses tend to a Covid-19 patient at the intensive care unit of the Delafontaine AP-HP hospital in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

A Covid variant-driven “tsunami” threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO said on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), as data shows cases have surged across the world in the past week to levels never seen before.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant propelled the US, France and Denmark to fresh records, with Agence France-Presse’s tally of 6.55 million infections reported globally for seven days through to Tuesday demonstrating the unprecedented speed of the spread.

The figures were the highest since the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic in March 2020, underscoring the blistering pace of Omicron transmission, with tens of millions of people facing a second consecutive year of restrictions dampening New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, with health systems on the brink of collapse.”

The surge, currently worst in Europe, is forcing governments to walk a tightrope between imposing restrictions designed to stop hospitals from becoming overwhelmed and the need to keep economies and societies open two years after the virus first emerged in late 2019.

The US, where Omicron is ­already overwhelming hospitals, recorded its highest-ever seven-day average of new cases at 265,427, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Harvard epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina tweeted that the count was probably just the “tip of the iceberg”, with the true number of US cases likely far higher because of a shortage of tests.

But the country also appears to be experiencing a decoupling between infections and severe outcomes compared to previous waves, officials noted, as evidence accumulates of milder cases under the new variant.

 

France registered a new daily record of more than 200,000 cases – more than double the number recorded on Christmas Day – and extended into January the closure of nightclubs.

French police said wearing face masks outdoors would become compulsory again in Paris from Friday for everyone over the age of 11 except those inside vehicles, cyclists, users of two-wheeled transport like scooters, and those participating in sports.

Denmark, which currently has the world’s highest rate of infections per person, recorded a fresh record of 23,228 new infections, which authorities attributed in part to the large numbers of tests carried out after Christmas celebrations. Portugal also broke its record, with nearly 27,000 cases reported in 24 hours, while Lebanon had 3150 new infections – its highest daily tally since vaccines rolled out earlier this year.

The number of people in hospital with Covid in Britain topped 10,000, the highest total since March, as the UK hit a new record of 183,037 daily cases in the past 24 hours.

Studies suggest Omicron, now the dominant strain in some countries, carries a reduced risk of sending those infected to hospital, but the WHO still urged caution.

More than 5.4 million people around the world have died from Covid-19, but over the past week the number of deaths averaged 6450 a day, the AFP tally said, the lowest since October 2020.

In Europe, where more than 3.5 million cases have been recorded in the past seven days, Greece banned music in bars and restaurants until January 16, including on New Year’s Eve, while Cyprus banned dancing in public venues.

Germany has put restrictions on sports events, shut nightclubs, and limited private gatherings to 10 vaccinated people.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said about 90 per cent of coronavirus patients in intensive care units had not had a booster jab, defending his decision not to clamp down on festivities.

The high take-up of boosters in England “is allowing us to go ahead with New Year in the cautious way that we are,” he said, ­despite new closures in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

It came as armed police in Jingxi in southern China, near the border with Vietnam, paraded four alleged violators of Covid rules through the streets, state media reported, a practice that was banned but which has resurfaced in the struggle to enforce a zero-Covid policy.

AFP