Nearly every day, more people are being diagnosed with COVID-19 in the United States and around the world. Researchers believe that at least 45 million individuals in the United States have suffered from COVID-19, with approximately 800,000 dying. The average per day cases in the United States is about to touch 100,000 cases and the hospitalization rate is also increasing at a very fast rate.
The Newly Detected Omicron Variant Is A Warning Sign
The prevalence of the disease with COVID-19 on a daily basis reached a peak in January 2021, then fell over the next few months because several antiviral drugs became easily obtainable. In July, the incidence rate went up again with the introduction of the Delta variant. NYC had the highest percentage of cumulative instances in early 2020.
However, during the warmer months, the disease’s propagation had decelerated there, while transmission had risen in other regions. Mostly every state saw an uptick in the frequency of cases over the winter. Throughout the pandemic, each state has seen a massive increase in reported infections at various points. Thus, every state has announced the coronavirus outbreak as a national emergency, and many have instated tourism, business, and social gathering limitations.
Regardless of the fact that case dynamics were on the upsurge in far too many areas, most states began reducing or lifting those constraints in the summer. Once occurrences started going up again in the winter, a few states re-instituted previous provisions.
The United States had become the global pandemic’s central hub in the spring of 2020, while case figures surpassed those of other regions undergoing large flare-ups and have proceeded to see more incidence rates per day than nearly any other country.
But as citizens started feeling some hope this time cautiously optimistic the pandemic would fade into the background earlier this summer, there was always the risk that genetic mutations of the COVID-19 virus would revert back, and it would be even more powerful. The Delta variant then appeared in the United States.
This week, South African researchers added an additional version of the coronavirus that they believe is responsible for a sharp spike in COVID-19 illnesses in Gauteng, the largest and most populated province.
The origin of the new mutant is unknown, and it was discovered by scientists in South Africa and has since been spotted by travelers and the sample was collected on 9th November 2021. South Africa has seen the number of new patients diagnosed increase to 2,465 on Thursday, up from just around 200 over the last week. The first case was detected on 24 November 2021.
Researchers analyzed virus specimens from the spread and realized the new strain while trying to describe the unexpected increase in cases. The Omicron variant has crossed the borders of major countries like The United Kingdom, India, European countries. Countries like Japan and Israel have also shut down flights from African countries.
The World Health Organization labeled it as a “variant of concern” in a press release issued on Friday, identifying it “Omicron” after a letter in the original Greek. After summoning a team of experts to check the evidence, the United Nations Health Organization stated that “preliminary research demonstrates an elevated incidence of reinfection with this version” when linked to other versions.
