Multiple European countries including France, Italy and Spain have seen record new coronavirus cases as the Omicron variant sweeps across the region.
In France, the seven-day average of new daily cases hit a new peak of over 82,500 on Tuesday — significantly higher than the previous high of around 61,000 in November 2020. The skyrocketing figures are mirrored in other European countries, with the U.K. reaching nearly 114,000 average new daily cases, Spain topping 63,000 and Italy exceeding 45,000.
Average daily new case numbers in Cyprus and Greece have also exceeded previous records. In Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on Wednesday estimated that the actual incidence of cases is two to three times higher than reported.
Deaths are also on the rise in France, Italy and Spain, but numbers remain substantially lower than previous waves when vaccination coverage was low or nonexistent.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that Omicron was “leading to a tsunami of cases” that was putting immense pressure on health workers and health system. While the Omicron variant is not yet dominant in many European countries, the WHO has said that the risk related to Omicron remains “very high,” with the variant doubling its presence every two or three days.
“The rapid growth rate is likely to be a combination of both immune evasion and intrinsic increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant,” the WHO said.
While the WHO points to early data indicating a reduced risk of hospitalization for Omicron cases, it notes that further data is needed.
The fast spread of Omicron has affected numerous industries with workers forced to isolate after testing positive. The worker shortages have led to calls for countries to reconsider the length of isolation. On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control halved the recommended isolation period to five days for asymptomatic cases. Whether European countries follow suit remains to be seen, with Italy today considering a call from its regions to remove quarantine for contacts of positive cases if the contact has received their booster vaccine.
Responding to the U.S. news, the WHO’s Abdi Mahamud said that while the WHO’s guidance is for 14 days of isolation, “different countries are in different situations” and they needed to take a “risk based approach” when shortening this period of isolation.
This article has been updated.
