GENEVA — A top World Health Organization official says low hospitalization and death rates in South Africa due to the omicron variant cannot be considered a template for how the variant will fare as it surges in other countries.
Dr. Abdi Mahamud, COVID-19 incident manager at the U.N. health agency, notes a “decoupling” between case counts and deaths in the country, which first announced the emergence of the fast-spreading new variant.
He said Tuesday that in terms of hospitalizations South Africa remains "very low, and the death has remained very, very low.”
But Mahamud says “it cannot be extrapolated from South Africa to other countries, because each is country is unique on its own.”
By its latest count, WHO says 128 countries had confirmed cases of the new variant that first emerged in southern Africa in November, but many other places — which may not have complete testing capabilities — are believed to have it too.
Mahamud notes that omicron has shown nearly unprecedented transmissibility for a virus.
He notes a “remarkable increase” in cases in the United States, where “we are seeing more and more hospitalizations coming along.” But he did cite an increasing number of studies showing omicron affects the upper part of the body, whereas other versions devastated lung function and caused severe pneumonia that led to many deaths.
Mahamud says that could be “good news” but that more studies are needed to get a full picture.
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HELSINKI — Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have tested positive for COVID-19 and have self-isolated at home with mild symptoms in accordance with current regulations.
The Swedish royal house said in a statement on Tuesday that the king and the queen — both fully vaccinated with three jabs — tested positive late Monday evening and “feel well under the circumstances”.
It wasn’t immediately known where or when the royal couple was infected but officials said they were tracking possible sources.
The news comes after Swedish health officials reported that Sweden, a country of 10 million, had set a new daily record for COVID-19 cases with 11,507 new infections on Dec. 30. The previous daily record of 11,376 cases was recorded over a year ago in late December 2020.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A South Florida hospital has temporarily closed its maternity ward due to staff shortages related to recent outbreaks of COVID-19.
Mothers-to-be who had planned on giving birth at Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale will have to find another option.
Holy Cross spokeswoman Christine Walker says in a statement: “In the best interest of patient safety, the Labor and Delivery unit is on diversion until further notice.” She says the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Post-Partum units at the hospital remain open.
Nearby hospitals including Memorial Healthcare System and Broward Health are taking on patients from Holy Cross in the meantime.
The announcement from Holy Cross comes as Florida continues to shatter daily records for new COVID cases, which are most likely fueled by the omicron variant. The variant is now the dominant strain across the United States.
Since last week, there have been long lines at testing site across South Florida and in other areas of the state.
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LA PAZ, Mexico — COVID-19 infections are rising across Mexico, especially in two states home to major tourism destinations on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that were busy during the holiday season.
According to data from the federal government, Quintana Roo, where tourists flock to Cancun, Tulum and other spots along the Mayan Riviera, and Baja California Sur, which draws beachgoers to the twin Pacific resorts that make up Los Cabos, are both experiencing some of their highest infection totals since the start of the pandemic.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that despite the new variant being very contagious, the country was not seeing rising hospitalizations.
Mexico has vaccinated 88% of adults and has started giving a third shot to the elderly as well as health care workers. Teachers will begin receiving the booster in the coming days.
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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Health say it has limited who is eligible for rapid COVID-19 tests at state-run sites due to high demand and a surge of cases amid the spread of the omicron variant.
Under new state guidance, rapid antigen tests at state and local health department testing sites will only available to those 18 or younger, regardless of symptoms, or those who are 50 and older, but symptomatic.
The department said the change is necessary “due to the national shortage of rapid antigen tests.”
Health officials said the new protocols will ensure students can stay in school and so residents who are most likely to need a monoclonal antibody can get it within the prescribed window.
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NEW YORK -- The omicron variant accounted for 95% of new coronavirus infections last week, according to U.S. health officials’ latest estimates.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted its newest estimates Tuesday. The CDC uses genomic surveillance data to make projections about which versions of the COVID-19 viruses are causing the most new infections.
The latest estimates suggest a dramatic swing — in just one month — in which version of the coronavirus is most abundant. Beginning in late June, the delta variant was the main version causing U.S. infections. The CDC said more than 99.5% of coronaviruses were delta as recently as the end of November.
The CDC’s estimates are based on coronavirus specimens collected each week through university and commercial laboratories and state and local health departments. Scientists analyze their genetic sequences to determine which versions of the COVID-19 viruses are most abundant.
However, those specimens represent just a small fraction of what’s out there. More than 2.2 million cases were reported in the last week in the U.S. The CDC has been revising estimates for past weeks as it gets more data.
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SAN FRANCISCO — In San Francisco, the average seven-day number of new reported infections has climbed steeply to 829, which is more than double that of last winter’s peak of 373 cases a day.
But the mayor of the city, which has had among the strictest public health protections against the virus and lowest infection and death numbers in the country, was upbeat Tuesday about the city’s ability to weather the current omicron-driven surge, saying San Francisco had sufficient hospital beds.
Still, London Breed urged residents to get vaccinated or boosted if they have not done so and to limit time in crowded, indoor spaces. She noted that staffing remains an issue given the speed with which the variant spreads. Currently, there are about 400 workers in police, fire and transportation who need to quarantine due to exposure and many more who can’t work due to other COVID-related complications, such as child care.
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ANKARA, Turkey — The number of confirmed daily COVID-19 cases in Turkey has exceeded 50,000 for the first time since mid-April, according to Health Ministry data.
The ministry reported 54,724 new infections on Tuesday, compared to 44,869 the previous day. It also reported 137 new deaths.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that Istanbul, where the omicron variant was spreading rapidly, accounted for more than half of the cases reported on Tuesday.
Turkey is urging people to continue to wear masks and to practice social distancing, but is so far not considering introducing restrictions.
Around 83% of the adult population has received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 20 million people have received a booster shot. More than 82,000 people have died of the virus.