WHO warns of 'Tsunami' of Covid-19 cases from Omicron wave

A COVID “Tsunami” is threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems around the world, the WHO has warned.

The stark message came as record Covid-19 figures brought by the Omicron variant were recorded globally once again.

The worrying surge was illustrated by AFP’s tally of 6.55 million new infections reported globally in the week ending Tuesday, the highest the figure has been since the World Health Organization declared a Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse.”

Dr Tony Holohan also issued a warning after Wednesday recorded the highest daily total for Covid-19 cases in Ireland. 

Every member of the public should consider themselves potentially infectious after a record 16,428 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, the chief medical officer has said.

Wednesday saw the highest daily total of Covid-19 cases, with numbers in hospital rising by 47 to 568, with 93 in intensive care, up one.

A total of 22 deaths were notified in the past week, bringing the total linked to the disease to 5,912.

But there was some hope as data indicated a decoupling of the number of cases and hospitalisations.

“We should not become complacent,” top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday.

But “all indications point to a lesser severity of Omicron”, he said.