The UN health agency notes that most infections were due to the omicron variant. Although the number of deaths has remained stable since October, it warns that the “virus must not be allowed to have free rein, nor should a white flag be waved”.

The World Health Organisation warned that there were 15 million new cases of COVID-19 worldwide last week, the highest number of cases reported in a single week. A figure the UN agency described as “on the low side”.

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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, head of the UN, told a news conference that the increase in coronavirus infections was mostly caused by the omicron variant of the disease, which is rapidly displacing the delta variant in all countries.

Despite this increase in infections, the number of reported deaths per week has remained stable since October at an average of 48,000 deaths per week.

Although omicron apparently causes a less severe infection than the delta variant, Tedros warned of the danger of the virus, especially for unvaccinated people.

“Almost 50,000 deaths a week is 50,000 deaths too many. Learning to live with this virus does not mean that we can, or should, accept this number of deaths. We must not allow this virus a free pass or wave a white flag, especially when so many people around the world remain unvaccinated,” he said.

With regard to the global immunisation gap, he pointed out that more than 85% of people in Africa have still not received a single dose of the vaccine, denouncing that “the acute phase of the pandemic cannot be ended unless this gap is closed”.

Despite the progress of the COVAX* mechanism, which will reach 1 billion vaccines delivered in the next few days, 90 countries have still failed to reach the Organization’s 2021 target of vaccinating 40 per cent of their population, and 36 of them have inoculated less than 10 per cent of their population.

The virus is on its way to becoming endemic, but not yet endemic.
Asked whether next spring could see a move to an endemic disease situation, Dr Maria Van Kerkove, the epidemiologist leading the organisation’s response, said the virus “is on its way to becoming endemic”, but that it will depend on multiple factors and on us, and reminded us that we are still in the midst of the pandemic.

“With the levels of transmission that we are seeing now, with the intensity of the spread that we are seeing, with the level of impact that these cases are having on our essential medical services, on hospitalisation rates that are increasing in a number of countries (…) the sheer volume of cases is really putting a huge burden on our health systems. So the impact we are seeing is really very substantial,” he said.

On the evolution of the virus and the more than possible next variants, he highlighted a scenario of unpredictability.

“We don’t have the same predictability that we have with influenza, where we have a typical seasonal pattern. We may get there with COVID-19, but we haven’t got there yet. So we are cautious about making very firm predictions about what might happen because every country is dealing with this pandemic differently in terms of their strategy, in terms of the implementation of their control measures, in terms of their adjustment of those control measures, and what we need is a collective renewal,” he stressed.

On a regional basis, the director-general of the Pan American Health Organization indicated that the omicron variant is already found in 42 countries and territories in all sub-regions of the continent with widespread community transmission in some of them.

Carissa Etienne confirmed that omicron is on track to become the dominant strain in our region and has led to an increase in re-infections, even among those with full vaccination regimens.

“This new wave of infections will not be ‘soft’ for our health systems, as the omicron variant is already straining our health workers and limiting attention to other diseases. In smaller island states, some hospitals were already overburdened by delta variant cases, and now more hospitals face the prospect of being overwhelmed by cases,” he warned.

In the past week, COVID-19 infections in the Americas have nearly doubled from 3.4 million on 1 January to 6.1 million on 8 January.

The highest number of new cases occurred in the United States, while Belize and Panama have the highest incidence of coronavirus in Central America.

Ecuador, Peru and Brazil also experienced a significant increase in new cases, hospitalisations increased in Brazil, and in Argentina and Paraguay, infections rose by almost 300% in the last week.

Pregnant women are not at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Regarding the clinical management of COVID-19 during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, Dr Tedros stressed that pregnant women are not at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, but if infected they are at high risk of developing a more severe form of the disease.

“That is why it is vital that pregnant women in all countries have access to vaccines to protect their own lives and those of their babies. We also call for pregnant women to be included in clinical trials of new treatments and vaccines,” she said.

She added that transmission of the virus from mother to child in the womb or during childbirth is “very rare” and that no active virus has been identified in breast milk.

She also expressed concern about reports that in some countries mothers are being separated from their newborn babies, “which is unnecessary and can be detrimental to the health and well-being of newborns during the crucial first days after birth”.

“All women have the right to a safe and fulfilling pregnancy and birth, and need respectful, high-quality maternity care,” she stressed.