FRANCE, INDIA, AUSTRALIA, UK: The world recorded more than two million daily coronavirus cases on average between January 1 and 7 with figures doubling in 10 days.
An average of 2,106,118 new daily infections were reported over the seven-day period, shortly after the one million case threshold was passed in the week of December 23-29, 2021.
New global case numbers have soared by 270 per cent since the highly contagious Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa in late November.
Europe, as well as the United States and Canada, are the world’s infection hotspots. The two regions respectively represented 49 per cent and 33 per cent of global COVID-19 cases in the past week.
COVID cases skyrocketed by 47 per cent in Europe and 76 per cent in the United States and Canada compared with the previous week.
In the same period, COVID-19 infections increased by 224 per cent in Oceania, 148 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 116 per cent in the Middle East and 145 per cent in Asia.
Meanwhile, India reported a single-day spike of 1,41,986 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in around 222 days. Active COVID-19 cases have increased to 4,72,169, the highest in around 187 days, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday morning. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.28%.
Meanwhile, Australia’s former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who was Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018 tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, as case numbers hit new highs across the country and health officials warned that the real number of cases is likely much higher than testing shows.
The revelation of Turnbull’s case followed the announcement that federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also has tested positive.
New South Wales saw a record 45,098 new cases on Saturday — up from 38,625 a day earlier — as the spread of the omicron variant forced the reintroduction of some restrictions in Australia’s most populous state. Victoria state reported 51,356 cases on Saturday, more than double the number of the day before.
Meanwhile, Britain will deploy troops to hospitals in London to alleviate severe staff shortages caused by the Omicron outbreak, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Friday.
Around 200 armed forces personnel will join health workers in the capital, which has been particularly badly hit by the recent upsurge in coronavirus cases leading to mass staff absences in hospitals.
Meanwhile, more than 150,000 people have died after catching coronavirus in the United Kingdom. The Government reported that deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID test had reached 150,057 since the start of the pandemic. Russia is the only European country with a higher death toll.The number of daily reported cases has fallen since a record figure of more than 200,000 last week, with 146,390 cases reported in the last 24 hours. – THE MALAY MAIL, THE HINDU, THE BANGKOK POST, NDTV
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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