OMICRON DETECTED IN NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY IN AMERICAS: PAHO

Thu 13 January 2022:

New infections have reached unprecedented levels across the Americas, due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, according to the Pan American Health Organization, with cases doubling in the last week.

PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said during a regular news briefing on Wednesday that cases in the Americas increased to 6.1 million on January 8 from 3.4 million on January 1.

“Infections are accelerating across every corner of the region of the Americas, and once again, our health systems are being challenged as emergency room visits and hospitalisations are rising,” Etienne said.

🚨LIVE 🔊PAHO Press Briefing on #COVID19🦠in the Americas 🌎 January 12, 2022😷 https://t.co/7aizH2F5yy

— PAHO/WHO (@pahowho) January 12, 2022

The new information came as countries around the world saw record-breaking increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, owing to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, putting additional strain on already overburdened health systems.

The Omicron variant has been found in 35 countries across the Americas, nearly every country in the region, according to Etienne, and it is expected to become the most dominant variant soon.

COVID-19 infections have increased by nearly 300 percent in Argentina and Paraguay over the last week, she said, with significant increases in new cases in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.

According to PAHO, the United States is reporting the majority of new cases, with states in the East and Midwest experiencing the most rapid increases.

Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stated Dduring a regular news briefing on Wednesday, that the US is currently reporting an average of more than 750,000 cases per day, up 47% from last week,

Hospital admissions, at about 19,800 per day, are a 33 percent increase from a week ago, while daily deaths at about 1,600 per day, have gone up 40 percent over the previous week.

“The risk of hospitalisation remains low, especially among people who are up to date on their COVID vaccines,” Walensky said. “However, the staggering rise in cases over one million new cases each day has led to a high number of total hospitalisations.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said his country has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to give all eligible Canadians a booster and a fourth dose.

As the number of Omicron cases rises and hospitals become overburdened, Quebec, Canada’s second-most populous province, has implemented a nighttime curfew and other stringent measures.

It announced on Tuesday that unvaccinated residents will face fines in the coming weeks.

According to official statistics, Canada is seeing more than 260,000 new COVID cases per day, with 500 deaths per day.

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