More than 3 million daily cases of Covid-19 were recorded on average worldwide between January 13 and 19, a figure that has increased more than fivefold since the discovery of the Omicron variant in late November, according to a count of the AFP.
An average of 3,095,971 daily cases have been recorded worldwide in the past seven days, up 17 percent from the previous week.
The spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant has caused a sharp acceleration of the pandemic in recent weeks: the current figures are around 440% higher than the 569,000 daily cases recorded on average between November 18 and 24, 2021, the day of the detection of ‘Omicron in South Africa and Botswana.
The current figures are significantly higher than those reached during previous waves of Covid-19 in the world. Before the appearance of Omicron, the record was 816,840 daily cases recorded on average between April 23 and April 29, 2021.
The regions currently experiencing the greatest increases in contamination are Asia (385,572 daily cases over the past seven days on average, +68% compared to the previous week), the Middle East (89,900 daily cases, +57%) and the Latin America/Caribbean zone (397,098 daily cases, +40%).
The number of deaths worldwide is also currently on the rise (7,522 daily deaths on average over the past seven days, +11% compared to the previous week), a figure for the first time higher than the balance sheets recorded at the end of November, at the time the discovery of Omicron (7,343 daily deaths between November 18 and 24).
Severe forms appear to be rarer with Omicron than with Delta, the previously dominant variant. In the United Kingdom, for example, new contaminations increased on average by more than 330% between the end of November and the beginning of January. At the same time, the number of patients on mechanical ventilation has not increased.
These figures are based on the reports communicated daily by the health authorities of each country. A significant share of the least severe or asymptomatic cases remain undetected despite intensified testing in many countries since the start of the pandemic, following the discovery of the virus in late 2019. In addition, testing policies differ from country to country. to the other.
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