Future Timeline

(The National) India became the country with the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases on Friday after reporting nearly 350,000 new Covid-19 cases.

Only the US has more cases of the disease than India, where more than 700 people died from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours. Half of the deaths occurred in the southern Kerala state, the health ministry said on Friday.

The spike came a day after the government announced the country is in the grip of a third wave driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant. So far, India has confirmed 9,692 cases of Omicron.

Officials said the country’s positive test rate is hovering around 16 per cent, with some states returning 50 per cent positive cases out of the total tested.

Authorities in the coastal Kerala state are battling an unprecedented surge as they introduce measures including banning gatherings and closing schools.

The Omicron variant has moved the COVID-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe, the WHO Europe director said Sunday.

andmar74 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:08 pm https://www.timesofisrael.com/end-of-pa ... -says-who/

The Omicron variant has moved the COVID-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe, the WHO Europe director said Sunday.