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Passenger with mask in bus in the UK
Photo: Peter Byrne / dpa
The number of infections with the corona virus is currently rising to new highs in numerous countries, including the USA, France and Great Britain.
In most countries, the Omikron variant is already predominant.
Even if many infections with the new mutant are apparently milder, the spread carries a considerable risk.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against the emergence of even more dangerous virus variants.
The more Omicron spreads and multiplies, "the more likely it is that it will produce a new variant," said WHO emergency expert Catherine Smallwood on Tuesday to the AFP news agency.
"We are in a very dangerous phase," said Smallwood.
"We are seeing very steep increases in infection rates in Western Europe, the effects of which are not yet entirely clear."
Although the risk of having to go to hospital in the event of an infection with Omikron, "viewed individually" is probably lower than with the previously dominant Delta variant, said Smallwood.
However, due to its wide spread, Omikron may pose a greater risk overall.
"If the number of cases soars, there are likely to be many more people who will become seriously ill, hospitalized, or possibly die," Smallwood said.
The expert referred to the extreme increase in infection cases in Europe in the last days of 2021 alone.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 100 million corona infections have been recorded in Europe, more than five million of which were registered in the last week of 2021, according to WHO information.
Biden expects the number of infections to continue to rise
The UK warned on Tuesday of massive health care staffing shortages due to the Omikron wave.
Smallwood emphasized that similar scenarios are also possible in other countries.
"Even in well-equipped and modern health systems there are real problems at the moment - and it can be assumed that these will develop throughout the region as Omikron is driving up the number of infections."
In the United States, the threshold of one million new infections was exceeded for the first time on Tuesday.
That comes from data from the University of Baltimore.
It is possible, however, that this high mark could also have something to do with late registrations from the holidays.
US President Joe Biden expects a further increase in the number of new infections because of Omikron.
He again appealed to his compatriots in the White House on Tuesday to get vaccinated.
Every American can protect himself from serious illnesses.
"You can control how big the impact Omikrons will have on your health." There is enough vaccine for everyone in the USA.
jok / AFP
