"‘The Worst Is Yet to Come’ Omicron Onslaught Causes Record High Cases... Pandemic Enters Prolonged Phase"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seulgina Jo, Hyunui Cho] "It will clearly be a long-term battle. It is uncertain whether more severe variants will emerge."

It has been nearly two years since COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019, yet the end of the pandemic is still not in sight. Especially with the emergence of the highly contagious new variant Omicron and the year-end holidays, the number of confirmed cases in various countries has surged to record highs. This is exactly why Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS), warned that "we could be entering the worst phase of the pandemic."

◆Record High Daily Cases Ahead of 2-Year Pandemic Mark

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 28th (local time), the global daily new COVID-19 cases reached 1.44 million as of the previous day, marking the highest number since the pandemic began. Even looking at the conservative 7-day average, the daily cases stand at 841,000. This surpasses the first wave of lockdowns last year, the second wave this year, and is about 50% higher than the figures reported at the end of November when Omicron was first detected in South Africa.

The recent spread is also notable by country. On this day, the United States (512,553 cases), the United Kingdom (129,471 cases), France (179,807 cases), and Italy (78,313 cases) all recorded their highest daily new cases since the emergence of COVID-19. Particularly in European countries, the record for the highest number of cases during the Christmas holidays was broken again within less than a week. Gates previously predicted on his Twitter that "the current surge in infections could be the worst ever."

This sharp increase is attributed to the new variant Omicron. Omicron, which spreads 70 times faster than previous variants, has overtaken Delta as the dominant strain in the United States and other countries. Megan Lanni, an emergency medicine physician at Brown University in the U.S., lamented, "The situation has been worsening day by day over the past few weeks." Craig Spencer, emergency medicine director at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center in New York, told The Washington Post (WP), "The actual number of new cases is likely much higher than it appears." Although Omicron is relatively less likely to cause severe illness, this rapid spread inevitably threatens healthcare systems worldwide that have been under stress from two years of battling the virus.

According to Johns Hopkins University, over the past two years since the pandemic began, the cumulative global confirmed cases have reached 280 million, with 5.4 million deaths. The United States has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths, with approximately 810,000 lives lost so far. The daily new cases in the U.S. surpassed 510,000 on this day, and projections suggest it could soon reach one million. In Europe, as of this day, 83.857 million people have been infected and 1.811 million have died. In South Korea, since the first confirmed case in January last year, the cumulative confirmed cases stand at 620,938.

◆Tunnel with No End After 2 Years... Coexistence or Lockdown?

Experts express concern over the continued uncertainty surrounding the fight against the virus even after two years of the pandemic. Although vaccines, which typically take 4 to 10 years to develop, appeared within about a year and oral treatments have also been introduced, it remains unknown when a variant that can evade existing vaccines might emerge. Questions about vaccine effectiveness also persist.

Ant?nio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), said on the day before the ‘International Day of Epidemic Preparedness,’ "COVID-19 has shown how quickly an epidemic can sweep the globe, push healthcare systems to the brink, and disrupt the daily lives of all humanity," expressing concern that "COVID-19 will not be the last." Daniela Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, warned, "This pandemic will clearly be a long-term battle." Voices expressing concern about the economies of countries reaching their limits during the pandemic are also growing louder.

Countries where Omicron is rampant have each introduced different measures on this day, citing uncertainty about the severity of the new variant despite record-high case numbers. France will limit attendance at large events and strengthen remote work starting January 3 next year. Germany has restricted private gatherings to 10 people regardless of vaccination status starting this day, and Finland has banned entry of unvaccinated foreign travelers.

In contrast, the United States and the United Kingdom have taken positions to ease existing measures or monitor the situation. The U.S. shortened the isolation period for asymptomatic infected individuals from 10 days to 5 days and plans to lift travel restrictions on eight countries in southern Africa where Omicron was first reported starting the 31st. The UK maintains its stance of not introducing additional government-level quarantine measures within the year.

This is interpreted as a judgment that Omicron’s risk of severe illness is relatively low and that the current healthcare system can handle the situation as vaccination rates increase. Riana Wen, visiting professor at George Washington University, emphasized, "This policy direction of no longer focusing on case numbers is the ‘new normal’ in the era of ‘With COVID.’"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.