Image Source: © Scaliger | Megapixl.com
Highlights
- Over 328 million COVID-19 cases have been registered globally, with a nearly 20% increase in total confirmed cases last week.
- There have been different opinions regarding the peak period of the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
- Victoria declared a state of emergency across all Melbourne hospitals, dubbed "code brown", which will begin today.
- The National Cabinet Meeting held recently stated that over 92.3% of Australians aged 16 years and over were then fully vaccinated.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues in 2022, there is an ambiguous belief worldwide regarding the peak period of the Omicron wave. Some are of the opinion that it is yet to come, while others believe the peak has already been reached.
Over 328 million COVID-19 cases have been registered globally, with a nearly 20% increase in total confirmed cases last week. Currently, Europe has the highest number of cases (121,418,640), followed by the region of the Americas (120,010,936).
The United States of America reported the highest number of daily new cases on 12 January with over one-million case tally. However, the number of cases lowered down to about 873,000 on Monday (17 January 2022).
Similarly, the United Kingdom reported approximately 218,000 cases on 4 January, the highest number of confirmed cases to date, which reduced to near about 74,000 on 17 January (-7.9% daily change).
Do read: Vaccination proof required in Western Australia: All you need to know
A quick look at COVID-19 trend in Australia
The highly virulent Omicron strain of COVID-19 has become the dominant variant in Australia, with daily numbers and deaths continuing to astound the country.
Australia has reported nearly 1.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 3 to 18 January, with more than 2,600 deaths. The highest number of confirmed cases were recorded last week on 9 January, with nearly 89,000 cases and a 14% daily increment.
New South Wales reported the highest number of confirmed cases (656,007), followed by Victoria (475, 605), whereas the lowest number of cases was reported by Western Australia (1309).
This week, NSW reported approximately 150,511 cases, which is lower than the previous week when about 229,739 cases were reported. The total number of hospitalisation cases has reached 2,863 in this state.
Similarly, in Victoria, the total number of daily new cases crossed over 28,000 on 7 January, which has lowered to about 8,800 on Monday. The Omicron outbreak has continued to push hospitalisation rates to all-time highs. Victoria declared a state of emergency across all Melbourne hospitals, dubbed "code brown", which will be in effect from today afternoon. Current cases in hospital have reached 1,152.
The National Cabinet Meeting held last week stated that over 92.3% of Australians aged 16 years and over were then fully vaccinated, and more than 4.3 million booster doses had been administered. Australia also has sufficient booster doses with 24 million mRNA booster doses in stock.
Also read: WHO: Boosters are not the right strategy to fight new transmission?
Bottom line
Several countries in the West have started accepting COVID-19 as an endemic and treating it merely as flu. However, several health experts across the globe are strictly cautious about lowering guards. Nevertheless, one’s safety lies within self until it’s time to completely bid farewell to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Victoria declares Code Brown emergency as Omicron takes toll | Breaking News Australia