The Overseas Situation Report Friday 7 January 2022
by Mike Evans
“A pandemic will lead to permanent economic, social and cultural changes. The key is to create good from a bad situation.”
– Wayne Gerard Trotman, author
With new cases surging across the world with the Omicron variant this report is looking at the latest information coming out on what is happening around the world.
This week, The United States reported nearly 1 million new COVID-19 infections on Monday, the highest daily tally of any country in the world and nearly double the previous US peak set a week ago as the spread of the Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has risen nearly 50% in the past week and now exceeds 100,000, according to data collected by Reuters, marking the first time that threshold has been reached in a year.
The latest surge, which forced waves of cancellations – from commercial airlines flights to Broadway shows – in recent weeks, was disrupting plans for public schools to welcome students back from winter vacation.
The 978,856 new infections documented on Monday included some cases tallied on Saturday and Sunday, when many states do not report.
The new variant was estimated to account for 95.4% of cases identified in the United States as of 1 January, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday sought to reassure the public that the federal government is prepared to address the growing COVID-19 health crisis amid a staggering increase in infections driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. Addressing the country before a meeting with the White House COVID-19 response team, Biden once again exhorted Americans to get vaccinated and boosted and to wear masks in public to avoid spreading and catching the coronavirus. “We have the tools to protect people from severe illness due to omicron – if people choose to use the tools,’’ Biden said. “There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful in (2022), but for God’s sake, please take advantage of what’s available.’’
Biden pointed out the U.S. has enough vaccines and booster shots for everybody in the nation, but 35 million adults have yet to get the shots. He also emphasized the importance of keeping schools open and said the government has doubled its purchasing order of a COVID treatment pill from Pfizer from 10 million to 20 million.
To help combat this, The Biden administration doubled its order for Pfizer oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment, the company and the White House said on Tuesday, providing the government a total of 20 million courses as it fights a record surge in COVID-19 cases.
The White House now expects some 4 million treatment courses of the pills to be available by the end of January and 10 million by June, three months sooner than previously planned, according to an administration official. “These pills will be delivered in the coming months and have been shown to dramatically decrease hospitalization and death from COVID-19,” the White House said.
Vaccinations, however, remain the strongest line of defense against the virus, even with omicron’s increased ability to cause breakthrough infections. “You can still get COVID, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll become seriously ill,’’ Biden said. “If you’re vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protected. Be concerned about omicron, but don’t be alarmed. And if you’re unvaccinated, you have some reasons to be alarmed. You’ll experience severe illness in many cases.’’ The U.S. has recorded more than 57 million confirmed COVID-19 cases – or one for every six people in the country – and more than 829,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Over in Europe the surge has seen previously low numbers in some countries leap to record levels.
France announced a staggering 332,252 daily virus cases Wednesday, smashing a string of recent records, as hospitals prepared drastic measures to brace for patient surges and the government strained to avoid a new lockdown.
With Europe’s highest-ever single-day confirmed infection count, France is facing an omicron-driven surge that is dominating the race for April’s presidential election and increasingly disrupting workplaces, schools, and public life.
But the country also has one of the world’s most-vaccinated populations, so the government is hoping the sweeping infections won’t hit hospitals as badly as at the start of the pandemic and is pushing the small minority of unvaccinated people to get inoculated fast.
France’s weekly average of virus cases has doubled in the past 10 days, with more than 1,800 people out of 100,000 testing positive over the past week, according to the government health agency.
The number of virus patients in hospitals has been on an upward trajectory for two months, and more than 72% of French ICU beds are now occupied by people with COVID-19.
The surge has prompted authorities to allow health care workers who are infected with the coronavirus to keep treating patients rather than self-isolate, to ease staff shortages at medical facilities.
Meanwhile parliament is debating a bill that would deny unvaccinated people access to restaurants, regional trains and planes and many other public places. Health officials say it’s needed to save lives and protect hospitals. French President Emmanuel Macron heightened tensions with an explosive remark that prompted widespread criticism and was seen as a campaign ploy.
in the UK, data from the Office for National Statistics shows infection rates continuing to rise.
In the week up to December 31, one in 15 people in England were positive to COVID-19, up from one in 25 the week before.
In Wales and Scotland, one in 20 people had the virus, while in London, one in 10 people were positive during the week-long reporting period.
Italy on Wednesday made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people from the age of 50, one of very few European countries to take similar steps, to ease pressure on its health service and reduce fatalities.
The measure is immediately effective and will run until June 15.
Italy has registered more than 138,000 coronavirus deaths since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government had already made vaccination mandatory for teachers and health workers, and since October last year all employees have had to be vaccinated or show a negative test before entering the workplace.
Refusal results in suspension from work without pay, but not dismissal.
Wednesday’s decree toughens this up for workers over the age of 50 by removing the option of taking a test rather than vaccination. It was not immediately clear what the sanction would be for those flouting the rule, effective from Feb 15.
The decree was approved after a two-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting which saw frictions within Draghi’s multi-party coalition.
“Today’s measures aim to keep our hospitals functioning well and at the same time keep open schools and business activities,” Draghi told the cabinet, according to his spokesperson. It has seen an average of more than 150 deaths per day over the last two weeks, with 231 fatalities on Wednesday and 259 on Tuesday. The tally of 189,109 new infections on Wednesday was its highest since the start of the pandemic.
Elsewhere in Europe, Austria has announced plans to make vaccination mandatory for those over 14 years old from next month, while in Greece it will be compulsory for over-60s from Jan 16. Austria’s conservative-led government on Thursday gave details of its plan to make coronavirus vaccines compulsory, saying it will apply to people 14 and over and holdouts face fines of up to 3,600 euros ($4,071) every three months.
Schools across Greece will reopen on Jan. 10 as planned under strict health protocols, the government said on Tuesday, as the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country hit a record high.
The National Public Health Organization (EODY) confirmed 50,126 infections within 24 hours. The previous record was registered on New Year’s Eve (40,560 cases), while a week ago there were fewer than 10,000 cases per day.
Greek officials said that the returning students and teachers will be required to take more COVID-19 tests regardless of their vaccination status.
More than 70 percent of the new cases in Greece. Greece’s daily COVID-19 cases hit a new record. Its five big regions are linked to the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant, EODY’s President Theoklis Zaoutis told a press briefing on Monday.
The Omicron variant surge is expected to peak quickly and then decline by February, Gkikas Magiorkinis, a professor of epidemiology and a member of the committee of experts advising the Greek Health Ministry on the management of the COVID-19 crisis, told the Greek national news agency AMNA.
To end this report, new coronavirus cases in the Netherlands jumped to a record high of around 24,500 on Wednesday as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the country, official data showed infections were up almost 60% from last week despite a strict lockdown that has closed all but essential stores as well as restaurants, hairdressers, gyms, museums, and other public places since Dec 19. The previous record of just under 24,000 cases in 24 hours was set during the wave of infections caused by the Delta variant of the virus that swamped hospitals throughout the country in late November.
The lockdown has driven down the number of COVID-19 patients in Dutch hospitals to their lowest levels in two months, but experts expect admissions to increase again soon due to the rapid rise in infections.
Despite the looming wave of new cases, the Dutch government on Monday decided that primary and secondary schools can reopen as planned after the Christmas break on Jan 10. More than 85% of Dutch adults are vaccinated but the country’s booster campaign has been slow to ramp up. As of Wednesday 32%, of adults have had a booster, according to government data.
Until the next time, Stay Safe.
Total Cases Worldwide – 298,475,078
Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,484,453
Total Recovered Worldwide – 256,960,969
Total Active Cases Worldwide 36,029,656 (12% of the total cases)
Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 262,445,422
Information and Resources:
https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/