In the past week, 20 countries across four continents have reported a record number of Covid-19 cases, highlighting the pressure that Omicron is exerting on the health systems of rich and poor countries around the world.

The World Health Organization warns of imminent Infected “tsunami” Because the highly circulated variants of the coronavirus circulate together with the Delta virus strain.

According to an analysis by the Financial Times, at least five countries—including Australia, Denmark, and the United Kingdom—have more than doubled the previous record spike in cases.

According to the data tracker of the British “Financial Times”, the 7-day rolling average number of cases in the United States on Wednesday was close to 300,000, which is the highest daily record since the pandemic began.

Countries are now testing much more than in the early stages of the pandemic, but the proportion of positive test results is rising across the board, which shows that the surge in cases is real.

In several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Denmark, the positive rate has risen to a record high since the beginning of widespread community testing.

PCR and lateral flow testing are currently unavailable or difficult to obtain in many countries, including the United Kingdom and Italy.

Analysis shows that the number of infections in Australia, which once pursued the “zero Covid” policy, has surged by about five and a half times the previous record peak.

Early evidence Shows that Omicron is less severe than the previous variant. This may be because the coronavirus has infected millions of people since it first appeared two years ago, making the infected people have a certain degree of immunity, and because of vaccination. However, it is not clear whether Omicron is less toxic to those who have never been vaccinated or exposed to the virus, especially those who are the most vulnerable.

Public health experts warned against underestimating the impact of Omicron after they concluded that the disease was mild.

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told the Financial Times: “The exponential increase in cases in countries and cities around the world may cause the health system to be under increasing pressure.”

She said: “A small percentage of the large number of people can still fill the hospital, and it greatly increases the demand for outpatient care.”

The rapid increase in cases has put pressure on American hospitals, and the number of infections in these states, including those with high vaccination rates, including New York and the District of Columbia, is also increasing.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday that as hospitalization rates increase, the state is deploying more medical staff and increasing bed capacity, but it is still low compared to the same period last year.

“We are basically preparing for the surge in January,” she said. “We know it is coming.”

Mike Ryan, WHO’s director of emergency situations, said that the virus is likely to evolve into an endemic stage, but “the virus itself is unlikely to disappear completely.”

Since Omicron was first discovered in Southern Africa at the end of last month, countries have been racing to stop its spread by restricting travel or completely closing borders and expanding booster activities. Omicron seems to be more contagious than Delta and can penetrate immunity caused by vaccines and previous infections.

Early evidence suggests that the full course of existing vaccines may be less effective in combating this variant, although Boosters can help Partial protection is restored. For vaccines that are mainly used in poorer countries, this protection is even weaker.Johnson & Johnson is the latest Say an extra On Thursday, its vaccine dose helped fight the variant.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, in the two years since the coronavirus was first discovered, more than 284 million people have been infected globally and more than 5.4 million deaths have been caused, although both figures may be seriously underestimated.

Additional report by Martin Stabe in London