A CHULALONGKORN University Faculty of Medicine doctor today (Feb. 14) estimated that the daily Covid-19 tally was approximately 2,800-3,889 during the week Feb. 5-11, 2023 while warning people to continue being careful, Naewna newspaper said.
Dr. Thira Woratanarat also said on his personal Facebook page that there were 392 hospital admissions and 12 deaths last week but this is an increase of 55.6% from the previous week.
Wearing a face mask correctly greatly reduces the risk of catching Covid-19, he added.
Worldwide there were 53,062 more Covid cases and 384 deaths yesterday, taking the global total to 677,658,400 cases and 6,782,849 deaths.
The five countries topping the Covid infection chart are Taiwan, Russia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Currently Asia and Europe together account for 89% of the new daily infections and 83.85% of the deaths.
Meanwhile Mykytyn AZ et al. from the Netherlands published an article in The Lancet on Jan. 16. 2023 stating that new Omicron subspecies, including BM.1.1.1, BQ.1.1 and XBB.1, are mutating in various locations with this leading to the antigenic characteristics of the virus differing from the original strain.
From the beginning of last year when Omicron started spreading across the world it has sprouted more than 813 subspecies, and still has not stopped.
Although the rates of severe illness and death have greatly reduced compared to when Delta raged across the world, be it as a result of vaccination or the virus itself weakening, people should not underestimate the risk of getting infected because there are still those falling sick and dying each day around the world, Dr. Thira warned.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Assoc. Prof. Thira Woratanarat. Photos: Naewna
Front Page: A graphic image illustrating new Omicron variants. Credit: Dw.com
Also read: Official stats not reflecting true impact of Covid-19 wave in China: WHO
Malaysia to open special lanes for travellers from China amid Covid-19 concerns
Expert urges strict checking to keep new Covid variants at bay
India makes negative Covid test mandatory for travellers from 5 countries
Air pollution worsens in Chiang Mai as forest fires rage non-stop
