Omikron wave: Corona case numbers at record level worldwide

The Omikron variant is spreading worldwide. Australia and the USA are currently reporting high levels of new corona infections.

Update from Wednesday, January 5th, 2021, 2:15 p.m.: The corona situation is also worsening dramatically in Australia. The authorities in the country with 25 million inhabitants reported more than 64,700 new infections on Wednesday, almost 17,000 more than on Tuesday. The increase in the number of infections is mainly due to the spread of the highly contagious Omikron variant. At the end of November, the numbers were comparatively between 1,000 and 1,500 new infections per day.

The most populous states of New South Wales with the city of Sydney and Victoria with the metropolis of Melbourne are hardest hit. Almost 1,500 people in New South Wales on the east coast are now in hospital in connection with Covid-19 – much to the concern of the health authorities.

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Since around 2,500 nurses were sent in isolation after contact with the coronavirus, there is a lack of staff in many hospitals to care for the patients, reports The Guardian in Australia. In some clinics, “desperate measures” are already being taken: Nursing staff have been called back to work even though they have tested positive for the virus, the newspaper said, citing those affected.

Omikron variant causes new infections in the USA to rise to record levels

First report from Wednesday, January 5th, 2021, 10:57 a.m.: Washington, DC – For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the USA recorded more than one million new infections within 24 hours. The country has thus reached a new global high. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, 1,080,211 new infections with the coronavirus were reported nationwide on Monday (January 3rd, 2021).

However, due to the extended New Year’s weekend, the number is only partially meaningful. There were probably many late registrations. The seven-day average of new infections with Corona, which the US media use to classify the infection situation, was 486,000 on Monday.

Corona in the USA: Omikron is spreading – one million new infections

The number of new infections on Monday has more than doubled compared to the previous week due to the spread of the highly contagious Omikron variant. On the Monday after Christmas, more than 489,000 new corona cases were registered.

Anthony Fauci, the leading US virologist, announced on Sunday that the infection curve was currently “almost vertical” upwards. The previous average high was reached in the first week of January 2021 with 258,000 new infections daily.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the USA, as in Europe. The high number of infected employees or employees who are quarantined as contacts has been leading to massive breakdowns in US air traffic for days. At the end of December, the city of New York reported an increase in hospital stays due to Corona among children *. According to the Burbio website, thousands of schools across the country have had to close. At the end of December, 58 percent of all infections recorded in the USA were due to Omikron.

Omikron: Corona variant dominates in the USA

Meanwhile, the number of corona deaths in the United States is falling. With 9382 deaths within a week, it fell ten percent from the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University. There were also fewer hospital admissions. However, according to a forecast by the CDC health authority, this number could rise significantly again in the coming weeks.

Since the pandemic began, more than 827,000 of a population of around 330 million in the United States have died as a result of corona infection. About 56.2 million people have been infected with Corona. This is the highest number registered in the world. However, so far only 62 percent of the total population have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. 33.4 percent also received a booster vaccination. For comparison: In Germany it is around 71 percent. In the USA, children aged five and over can also receive a corona vaccination *.

Great Britain also reports new record values for new infections with Omikron. The national health service NHS registered more than 200,000 new infections within 24 hours for the first time this week. In England there were almost no restrictions over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Because many employees are in quarantine, the NHS warns of overloading the hospitals. France also reported a record with 271,886 new corona infections on Tuesday. The number of cases has been increasing for weeks. (lrg / afp / dpa) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

List of rubric lists: © Dan Himbrechts / dpa