Soccer star Lionel Messi also confirmed
Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) Omicron mutation, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide is breaking a new high every day. According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 2nd (local time), as of December 31 of last year, the average daily number of COVID-19 cases in the United States was 378,516, the highest in history. The New York Times reported that “the virus spread nonstop while Americans enjoyed the holiday season.” On the last day of last year, the number of daily confirmed cases worldwide reached 1.89 million, a record high since the counting of COVID-19 began.
According to Worldometer, an international statistical site, on December 31, last year, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide reached 1,891,900. CNN reported that last week alone, the average daily number of confirmed cases per week broke a new record four times in the United States. “Omicrons are virtually ubiquitous,” Meghan Lenny, a professor of emergency medicine at Brown University’s School of Public Health, told CNN. “I am concerned that our economy will be shut down next month not because of federal policy, but because there are too many (corona) patients,” he said.
In Europe, which is gradually easing quarantine regulations, the cumulative number of COVID-19 infections has surpassed 100 million. On New Year’s Eve in France, the UK and Italy, the number of daily confirmed cases exceeded 230,000, 160,000, and 140,000, respectively. All three countries are the largest on record. According to AFP, 17 out of 52 European countries recorded the highest number of confirmed cases in the past week.
Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), a French professional footballer, also tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Associated Press, PSG announced on the 2nd (local time) that four players on the team, including Messi, had contracted COVID-19.
In the midst of this, the Times of Israel reported on the 1st that the first case of ‘Flurona’ was reported in Israel. Authorities said the patient was a pregnant woman who had not been vaccinated. In the United States in 2020, a family member contracted COVID-19 and the flu at the same time, but it is rare worldwide, foreign media reported.
Reporter Im Bo-mi bom@donga.com
Reporter Kim Seong-mo mo@donga.com