Geneva : More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is affecting the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants and resulting in a "decoupling" in some places between soaring case numbers and low death rates, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

"We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs who would be causing severe pneumonia," WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists. "It can be a good news, but we really require more studies to prove that." he added.

His remarks on the reduced risks of severe disease chime with other data, including a study from South Africa, which was one of the first countries where Omicron was detected.

However, Mahamud also sounded a note of caution, calling South Africa an "outlier" since it has a young population, among other factors.

And he warned that Omicron's high transmissibility meant it would become dominant within weeks in many places, posing a threat to medical systems in countries where a high proportion of the population remains unvaccinated.

The best way to reduce the impact of the variant would be to meet the WHO's goal of vaccinating 70% of the population in each country by July, rather than offer third and fourth doses in some countries, he said.

14-day quarantine suggested

As the new highly complex and mutated Omicron B.1.1.529 variant continues to grip the nations worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday clearly stated that it still recommends a 14-day quarantine for those infected.

Nations worldwide, however, have set the quarantine period based on their individual situations but WHO’s Mahamud explains that in countries with low infections, a longer quarantine time could, in fact, help keep the COVID-19 case numbers as low as possible. Although, the latter iterated that the shorter quarantines may be justified as it may help keep countries’ economies running and might effectively work in nations with runaway cases.

Soaring Omicron Cases

The US has recorded more than one million new Covid cases as officials warn the peak of a fast-spreading Omicron surge is still to come.

A record 1,080,211 cases were reported on Monday - the highest one-day tally of new cases anywhere in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Omicron variant accounts for the majority of cases in the US.

While rates of death and hospital admissions in the US have been far lower in recent weeks than in previous infection spikes, the number of hospital admissions has been steadily rising. The country is now facing "almost a vertical increase" in cases, said top US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci, adding that the peak may be weeks away.

Britain faced warnings of an impending hospital crisis due to staff shortages caused by a wave of Omicron infections, as the country's daily Covid caseload breached 200,000 for the first time. The state-run National Health Service (NHS) is struggling with staff forced to stay at home after testing positive, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised action to plug staffing gaps in the worst-hit areas.

The reactivation of emergency "Nightingale" clinics, along with the drafting of medical volunteers backed by army support, meant the NHS was back on a "war footing", he told a news conference. "So anyone who thinks our battle with Covid is over, I'm afraid, is profoundly wrong. This is a moment for the utmost caution," Johnson said.

However, he ruled out another nationwide lockdown, crediting mass vaccinations including a recent programme of booster shots, as the NHS marked a year since administering the first Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.

Germany needs to consider further restrictions on social contact and must ramp up the number of people who have had booster vaccinations as the Omicron variant takes hold, the health minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to meet regional leaders on Friday to discuss how to respond to the spread of the highly-infectious Omicron variant.

Germany has a relatively low rate of vaccination compared with other western European countries: 71.3% of the population is fully vaccinated and 39.3% have received a booster shot.

Sweden set a new daily record for COVID-19 cases, registering 11,507 cases on Dec. 30, health agency data showed on Tuesday, as a fourth wave of the virus swept across the country and put healthcare under renewed pressure.

The Health Agency expects Omicron, which is more easily transmitted than other variants, to lead to a new peak in daily cases some time in mid-January.

Australia's daily COVID-19 cases hit a record high for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, further straining hospital resources and testing facilities as public anger grows over the handling of the fast-moving Omicron outbreak.

Many Australians, already unhappy about long queues at public testing centres and a shortage of at-home tests, were further incensed when news broke that tennis world number one Novak Djokovic had been given a medical exemption to enter the country.

Australia has recorded more than 612,000 cases and 2,290 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began, with more than half of those infections reported over the past two weeks.

Five cruise ships in Brazilian waters have reported 214 cases of COVID-19 among their crew and passengers, including two ships that are in quarantine in the port of Santos, health regulator Anvisa said on Tuesday.

Cruise ship companies suspended operations in Brazil until Jan. 21 after health authorities recommended against cruise ship travel following several offshore outbreaks of the coronavirus.

India reported 58,097 new Covid-19 cases and 534 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am Wednesday. With 15,389 recoveries, the active cases in the country stood at 2,14,004. A total of 2,135 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in the country so far.

States across India imposed restrictions, curfews to contain infection spread.

Sources- BBC, Reuters, IE