Filenews 5 January 2022
The proliferation of Omikron cases around the world could pose the risk of a new more dangerous variant of Covid-19 occurring, the World Health Organization has warned.
Although the variant is spreading rapidly worldwide, it looks less pathogenic than what was initially feared, and has raised the hope that the pandemic could be overcome.
But Catherine Smolwood, who's emergency officer, told The Associated Press that a sharp rise in infection rates could have the opposite effect.
"The more Omikron spreads, the more it is transmitted and the more it reproduces, the more it is likely to produce a new variant," she clarified. "Today Omikron is deadly, it can cause death (...) Maybe a little less than Delta, but who can say what the next variant might cause?"
Europe has recorded more than 100 million cases of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than five million new cases in the last week of 2021, which "overshadows almost everything we have seen so far," Smolwood added.
"We are in a very dangerous phase, infection rates are increasing especially in western Europe and the actual impact of this is not yet clear," he said.
Although "on an individual level, the risk of hospitalization is likely lower" with the Omikron variant than with Delta, overall, Omikron may pose a much greater threat due to the number of cases, he added.
"When the number of cases rises so much, it is likely that a much larger number of people with serious illnesses will be in the hospital or even die," he noted.
The UK, which announced today that it has recorded more than 200,000 new daily cases for the first time, is threatened with a hospital crisis due to the shortage of staff caused by the Omikron wave. Neighbouring France recorded about 270,000 cases, a record number since the beginning of the pandemic.
Smolwood said she expects similar scenarios in other European countries: "Even in large and sophisticated health systems there are real challenges at the moment, and it is likely that this will be repeated in the region since Omikron will cause an increase in cases."
At the same time, the Economist in its article argues that the number of deaths due to the coronavirus is much greater than what we know. The publication speaks of 18.8 million, almost four times the official one.
The Old Continent continues to be in the eye of the cyclone. It has recorded more than 100 million cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Five million were recorded, in the last week of 2021 alone. The new year does not seem to be putting a brake on the spread of the virus.
Italy has bent under pressure. In the last twenty-four hours, 170,844 coronavirus cases were recorded and 259 people died.
This is a negative record since the beginning of the pandemic. The country's authorities claim that this launch is a consequence of festive gatherings in homes and shops. However, it was decided that the schools would operate normally on the 7th or the 10th of the month. The third dose of booster has so far been administered to 20,410,468 citizens. This is a figure that corresponds to 65% of those who are asked to make the third dose. The response to childhood vaccination is also low. At present, finally, only 10% of children aged 5 to 10 have been vaccinated.
The situation in France is also dystopian. 300,000 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours. Hospitals are bent by the 2,000 admissions that took place in just one day. The "positivity rate" has exceeded 15%. Of particular concern has been the variant found in the south of France and probably originating from Cameroon. According to the latest information, 12 people have been infected with it. This new variant is called B.1.640.2 and according to early estimates contains 46 strains, which are more than those that bear the least aggressive variants. Among what epidemiologists know is that it manifests symptoms more quickly and is more easily detected. "What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply due to the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus. For now we need to consider what risk scale this variant will be included in," commented epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding.
The situation in the United Kingdom is also deteriorating with 219,000 cases yesterday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the implementation of the "Plan B" measures should continue to be implemented. This includes mandatory teleworking, wearing a mask in public places and showing the Covid certificate for entering certain areas. Schools will remain open, but students will undergo diagnostic tests while the mask returns to the classroom. More than 14,000 patients are hospitalized. The optimistic news is that patients who have needed hospitalization generally show less severe symptoms than months earlier.
Spain announced the shocking number of 372,766 new cases. Sweden had 11,507 new cases. The situation in Romania, which is one of the countries with the lowest vaccination rate, is also difficult.
The United States also recorded a new record with one million infections in a 24-hour period. Anthony Fauci described the course of the virus with a vertical curve. In Australia, cases exceeded half a million. In India, a curfew was announced in New Delhi in an effort to contain the pandemic. New Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kezribal himself announced he contracted the coronavirus, a day after speaking at an election campaign without wearing a mask.
