World breaks daily Covid case record

The world registered a record-high average of more than three million coronavirus cases a day between January 13 and 19, fuelled by the Omicron variant, an AFP tally showed Thursday.

The figure has increased more than five-fold since the highly transmissible strain was detected in South Africa and Botswana in late November 2021.

An average of 3,095,971 daily cases were reported over the past seven days, an increase of 17 per cent compared with the previous week.

Also Read: Deaths significantly less in third Covid wave in comparison to second wave: Govt

Before Omicron emerged, the previous record for average global daily infections was around 800,000 in late April 2021.

Current infection levels are around 440 per cent higher than the daily average for the week ending November 24, 2021, when South Africa reported Omicron to the World Health Organization.

The world recorded an average of 7,522 Covid-related deaths a day between January 13 and 19, an 11-per cent rise on the previous week although Omicron has so far seemed to cause less serious illness than the previously dominant Delta variant.

In Britain, new Covid cases skyrocketed by more than 300 per cent between late November and early January, but the number of patients requiring ventilation did not increase in that time.

The figures are based on official statistics produced by national health authorities and compiled by AFP.

A significant proportion of less severe or asymptomatic cases go undetected despite intensified testing regimes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Testing policies also vary from one country to another.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

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