WHO: Half of Europe's population will be infected with microns within two months

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The reason Omicron mutation is currently the biggest variable in domestic quarantine is because the situation in other countries where Omicron mutation has already spread is very bad. Countries where Omicron mutations have already become dominant or widespread are recording the highest number of new cases on record. The WHO even predicted that half the European population could be infected with the omicron mutation within two months.

Correspondent Han Se-hyeon.

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The number of new COVID-19 cases in major European countries has hit a record high.

The number of new confirmed cases in France is about 350,000, an increase of about 20,000 from the previous high of 332,000 on the 5th.

The number of hospitalized patients was also counted as 22,000, of which 3,900 were found to be critically ill.

Italy also recorded 220,000 new cases, surpassing 219,000 on the 6th for the first time in five days.

The number of new deaths was 294, the highest in eight months since May, and 379 people in the UK also died from COVID-19, the highest in 11 months.

The cause of the rapid spread is mutations in Omicron, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that within two months, more than half of the European population will be infected with Omicron.

[Marco Cavaleri / Head of Vaccine Strategy, European Medicines Agency: It cannot be said that the spread has reached its peak yet, and the virus is still spreading like a pandemic. The 'Omicron Emergency' shows that clearly.]

The United States is also breaking new records every day.

As of the previous day (10th) local time, the number of new confirmed cases was 1,417,000, the highest number ever.

Over the past week, the average daily number of new confirmed cases was about 737,000, more than three times the number two weeks ago.

In particular, it was found that the proportion of omicron mutation infected people among new confirmed cases reached 98.3%, making it the dominant species.

The New York Times reported that the average number of hospitalized patients per day over the past 7 days increased by 83% compared to two weeks ago, exceeding the peak of last winter, and pointed out that strong quarantine policies such as expanding vaccination are needed.