The Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly through Europe and the United States, with several places notching up record numbers. The Washington Post reported that the seven-day average number of cases in the United States has now crossed 2 lakh, a level that had not been reached since January this year, when the seven-day average had crossed 2.,5 lakh. Omicron has already been declared as the most dominant variant in the United States. Washington is reporting more than 1,300 cases every day on an average, while New York detected over 49,000 cases on Sunday, a new record, according to The Washington Post. Hospitalisations in the United States have not been rising in the same proportion, strengthening the evidence that the Omicron variant was not causing severe disease in the vaccinated population at least. But only about 62 per cent of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated, and health experts have been expressing concern over the large proportion of the population remaining unvaccinated, or only partially vaccinated. In the United Kingdom, new data showed that over one lakh cases were detected on Christmas Day as well, Sky News reported. Official numbers have not been released for the last couple of days because of the Christmas break, but before that the UK had discovered over one lakh cases a day for at least four consecutive days. The daily count of cases had crossed the one lakh mark in France as well, a new record. The UK, however, has said it was not imposing any fresh restrictions for the New Year, according to Sky News. It said the country’s Health Minister Sajid Javid had asked people to remain cautious and take all precautions. He did not rule out restrictions in January, though. Meanwhile, Israel began giving fourth doses of the vaccine to its citizens on Monday, the first country to do so. The fourth dose has been started only for healthcare workers as of now.
