The World Health Organisation chief says he is optimistic that the pandemic will be defeated in 2022, provided that countries work together to contain its spread. He also warned against narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding as important factors to reach that goal. 

Despite Covid has recently shut borders, split families, and have people wear masks regularly, the WHO chief sounded positive in his message, adding that now the world has more tools to treat the infection.

According to the WHO director, vaccine hoarding and narrow nationalism, created the ideal conditions for the emergence of Omicron, and the longer inequity goes on, the higher the risks of the virus spreading in ways we can’t prevent or predict.

The head of the World Health Organisation has sent a message about beating the pandemic in 2022. In his New Year’s Eve message, the Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the world has the tools to end this calamity, despite the fact that daily new Covid cases worldwide reached new records. The message also came with a warning: “The longer inequity continues, the longer the pandemic will persist.” After two years in pandemic, the tools available remain unevenly distributed round the world.

A startling 525,000 cases, were reported Wednesday in the United States, but that figure could be an undercount of the true number. This number marks a new record of infections in the country, with Omicron being the culprit of this surge in cases. Experts believe that this figure is low since many are asymptomatic. The average in the US is now estimated in 300,000 per day. Dr James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University said, that it was unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, even at the peak of the prior surges of Covid.

France has registered a national and European record for new coronavirus infections - 208,000 - fuelled by the Omicron variant. The country reported the cases in the last 24 hours, up from its previous record of almost 180,000 set the day before. The United Kingdom reported 183,000 new cases, Spain 100,000, and Italy over 98,000. Portugal, Denmark, and Greece have all informed about new case records this week. On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States registered 438,000 new cases of coronavirus, becoming the country with the highest infection rate so far. With this new figure, the average daily cases hits a high of 260,000, with Omicron accounting for 59% of these. The World Health Organisation Director General said it is worrying that Delta and Omicron are spreading at the same time, leading to a tidal wave of infections.

Several European countries and the US have reported record high Covid cases, as the Omicron variant continues to surge. The US, France, the UK, Spain and Italy are the countries with the highest number of infections in one day. In Europe, France documented almost 180,000 cases, the UK nearly 130,000, Spain close to 100,000 cases, and Italy about 80,000. The United States registered over 309,000 cases of coronavirus. All of this in a 24-hour period. Portugal also reported record-high daily coronavirus caseload, despite having one of the world’s highest vaccination rates. In Greece, authorities announced a new daily report of more than 21,000 cases, more than twice the level on Monday.

A panel of experts in Israel has recommended a fourth dose of a Covid vaccine, namely Pfizer, for all over 60, healthcare workers, and those with compromised immunity at least four months after their third jab.

The Chilean government will offer a fourth coronavirus vaccine from February, starting with health workers, elderly people and those with chronic diseases. 

Boris Johnson will not introduce fresh Covid measures for New Year’s Eve, putting emphasis on personal responsibility. This is some sort of bet. Mass events will go ahead and nightclubs remain open, contrasting with other UK nations.

Of course, scientists who say that England has recorded its highest numbers of Covid infections criticised him, adding it was the greatest divergency between scientific advice and legislation since the start of the pandemic.

Due to the advance of Omicron, both public and private spaces are at the reach of the new hardened controls in Germany, even restricting the size of indoor and outdoor gatherings. Leisure facilities, from gyms to swimming pools, nightclubs and cinemas are closing in several states. This move is aimed to slow down a wave of coronavirus infections triggered by the Omicron variant, the new strain taking hold in the country.

Last Saturday, France recorded more than 100,000 new infections – the highest number since the pandemic began. This prompted the French government to implement tighter restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

One of them is to make remote working compulsory from 3 January for those whose jobs allow it. Also, public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events.

Coronavirus infections are doubling every two days, a mega wave of new cases, according to the health minister.

Other measures include a ban on eating and drinking on long distance transport, nightclubs closed, and cafes and bars will only provide table service only.