The Omicron variant is driving up COVID-19 cases around the world. On Thursday, the total number of infections globally topped 300 million. The virus is infecting the highest numbers of people… in Europe and the U.S. Kim Do-yeon brings the updates. Confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world… as of Friday… have topped 300 million. This according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
From when the first case was found outside of China, it took a year to reach the first hundred million last January, then around seven months to reach 200 million… and just five months to 300 million. The increase recently… has been driven by the Omicron variant, whose symptoms are generally less severe, but the head of the WHO says it should not be dismissed as mild.
“While Omicron does appear to be less severe compare to Delta, specially in those vaccinated, it does mean it should be categorized as mild. Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalizing people and it’s killing people. In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world.”
On Wednesday, the Euopean Union reported more than one million new cases,… a record single-day rise. And in the U.S.,… cases in the week ending this past Wednesday… totaled four million, an increase of 89 percent from the week before. There was also a record-high number of new cases in Israel on Wednesday… at over 16-thousand. The authorities there have warned people to brace for nearly 50-thousand cases a day a week from now.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News.