New Covid records in US, UK, France as Omicron runs rampant

The US, Britain, France and Australia have all announced record numbers of daily Covid-19 cases as the WHO warned on Tuesday that Omicron’s dizzying spread increased the risk of newer, more dangerous variants emerging.

Britain breached 200,000 cases for the first time on Tuesday, Australia posted almost 50,000 and France registered more than 270,000, all three countries easily topping their previous records.

But dwarfing even those numbers was the 1,080,211 reported by the United States on Monday, a global record.

The country’s Monday figures are usually higher due to delays in weekend tallying — and were likely inflated further after a three-day New Year’s holiday weekend.

The rolling average over seven days — which experts see as more reliable — was 486,000 cases per day as of Monday evening, Johns Hopkins University said.

The heavily mutated Omicron variant, the most transmissible to date, accounted for around 59 per cent of US cases near the end of last year.

Omicron’s rates of deaths and hospitalisations have been lower across the world, raising hopes the virus could be evolving into a relatively benign seasonal illness.

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But the World Health Organisation in Europe sounded an ominous note of caution on Tuesday, warning the soaring infection rates could have the opposite effect.

“The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant,” WHO senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood told AFP in an interview.

“Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death... maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who’s to say what the next variant might throw out,” she added.

“Even in well-capacitated, sophisticated health systems there are real struggles that are happening at the moment.”

Such a scenario was feared in Britain, where the government said on Tuesday that hospitals have switched to “war footing” due to staff shortages.

After the UK hit a record 218,724 cases in 24-hours, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised action to plug staffing gaps in the worst-hit areas, including drafting medical volunteers backed by army support.

Johnson also defended his decision not to increase restrictions over Christmas in England — unlike in other parts of the UK — and ruled out another nationwide lockdown.

Australia, which had previously successfully suppressed infections for much of the pandemic, also smashed its previous caseload record with 47,738.

Tennis world number Novak Djokovic — who has repeatedly refused to confirm whether he has been vaccinated — said on Tuesday that he was heading to the Australian Open after being granted a medical exemption.