The World Health Organization (WHO) has compared the Omicron and Delta mutant corona viruses to tsunamis, which have been reported in many parts of the world, and warned that in times of crisis, it could overwhelm national health systems. Restrictions.
Infections of the highly contagious strain of Omicron have reached record levels in many countries, and global cases increased by 37 percent between December 22 and 28, compared to the previous seven days, according to AFP calculations based on national data.
A total of 6.55 million cases were reported between December 22 and 28, the highest number since the World Health Organization declared Kovit-19 a global pandemic in March 2020.
“I am deeply concerned that the spread of the most contagious omigron at the same time as the Delta could lead to a tsunami of fatalities,” WHO Secretary-General Tetros Adanom Caprese told a news conference. It’s a huge burden on overworked health care workers and health organizations on the brink of collapse. “
Most of the new epidemics that have been on the rise in the world since mid-October have been observed in Europe, where daily injuries have been recorded in many countries.

But Rochelle Wallinski, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference on Wednesday that the number of hospital admissions and deaths was “relatively low” and that “there was a low incidence of the disease at Omigran”. “
“We face two adversaries,” said French Health Minister Olivier Veran, adding that it was still low delta, as well as “Omicron, and I’m not talking about the wave, I’m talking about a storm. Tsunami.”

According to Catherine Smallwood of the World Health Organization, the rapid spread of Omicron is expected to “lead to a large number of cases requiring transport to hospitals, especially among those who have not been vaccinated, disrupting health systems and other essential services.” Europe.
So far, the epidemic boom has not translated into an increase in the number of deaths in the world, which has been declining for three weeks.
U.S. officials have warned that rapid tests are less sensitive to Omigran and therefore less reliable.

The epidemic has killed at least 5,413,630 people worldwide since the outbreak in China in late 2019, according to a report prepared by AFP on Wednesday. More than 282 million injuries have been officially estimated in the world.