WHO: Omicron risk still 'very high' as global coronavirus cases up 11% last week

The World Health Organization says the number of Covid-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11 percent last week compared with the previous week, with the biggest increase in the Americas. The gain followed a gradual increase since October.

The UN health agency said in its weekly epidemiological report released late on Tuesday that there were nearly 4.99 million newly reported cases around the world from 20-26 December.

Europe accounted for more than half the total, with 2.84 million, though that amounted to only a 3 percent increase over the previous week. It also had the highest infection rate of any region, with 304.6 new cases per 100,000 residents.

WHO said that new cases in the Americas were up 39 percent to nearly 1.48 million, and the region had the second-highest infection rate with 144.4 new cases per 100,000 residents. The US alone saw more than 1.18 million cases, a 34 percent increase.

Reported new cases in Africa were up 7 percent to nearly 275,000.

The agency said that "the overall risk related to the new variant… [O]micron remains very high." It cited "consistent evidence" that it has a growth advantage over the Delta variant, which remains dominant in parts of the world.

It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the UK and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalisation with Omicron.

But it said that more data is needed "to understand the clinical markers of severity including the use of oxygen, mechanical ventilation and death, and how severity may be impacted by vaccination and/or prior … infection".

The WHO said that the number of newly reported deaths worldwide last week was down 4 percent to 44,680.