U.S. single-day COVID-19 cases surpass 1 million as Omicron variant continues to haunt Europe

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States shattered a single-day record with over 1 million COVID-19 cases on Monday amid the rapid spread of Omicron variant and government decisions to ease prevention and control measures in the country.

As of 0500 GMT Tuesday, the country registered about 1.07 million confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The United States remains the country worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths. The number of new COVID-19 cases has doubled in the last seven days to an average of 418,000 a day, local media reported.

"The United States reported more than 2 million coronavirus cases in one week, breaking yet another record as the Omicron variant surges across the country," reported USA Today on Saturday.

However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to shorten the recommended times that people should isolate when they have tested positive for the virus from 10 days to five days if they don't have symptoms, a move that drew criticism from some medical experts and created confusion among the public.

"The rapid spread of COVID-19's Omicron variant is weighing on U.S. businesses, keeping more workers home sick or quarantined and leading some companies to cut services and reduce hours," reported The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The rise of U.S. COVID-19 infections to record levels in recent days has resulted in thousands of canceled flights, prompted retailers to train available employees on new jobs or close some stores altogether, companies were quoted as saying.

"The rapidly spreading Omicron variant is hitting businesses at a time when consumers' demand for products and services has surged, and many companies already are struggling with staffing and supply-chain challenges," said The Journal report.

According to Johns Hopkins, more than 292 million COVID-19 cases and over 5.44 million related deaths have been registered worldwide.

Across the Atlantic, the Omicron variant has sent Britain's daily new caseload surging over Christmas and the New Year, with 157,758 infections reported in England and Scotland on Monday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the country's National Health Service (NHS) will be under "considerable" pressure in the coming weeks amid the wave of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

"No question Omicron continues to surge through the country," Johnson said at a vaccination centre. "I think we've got to recognize that the pressure on our NHS, on our hospitals, is going to be considerable in the course of the next couple of weeks, and maybe more."

As of Tuesday, the total number of the novel coronavirus cases in Britain surpassed 13.4 million, with more than 149,000 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.

On Monday, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that January would "be tough" for French hospitals due to the spread of the Omicron variant and other diseases.

"The flu has started, gastroenteritis is already there. There are other pathologies, other people who suffer from chronic diseases and need treatment. Out of 400,000 beds in hospitals today, 20,000 are already occupied by COVID-19 patients, and this is even before the impact of the Omicron wave," Veran told radio France Inter.

In neighbouring Germany, daily COVID-19 infections increased to 18,518 cases, roughly 4,600 more than last week, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said on Monday.

More than 7.2 million COVID-19 infections have been officially registered in Germany, while the death toll climbed to more than 112,000, according to Johns Hopkins.

The figures still showed an "incomplete picture of the epidemiological situation" due to less testing and delayed reports over the holiday season, according to Robert Koch.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he was "very, very concerned about the unvaccinated who are now walking into the Omicron wave."

Spain also witnessed a huge rise in the number of COVID-19 cases over the New Year. The country registered 372,766 new cases of the virus from Dec. 30 to Monday, taking the total number of infections to 6,667,511.

The Spanish Ministry of Health said on Monday that the highly contagious Omicron variant was responsible for 43 percent of all cases in Spain.

The country's vaccination campaign is continuing at a rapid pace, with 90.3 percent of the population aged 12 and over having received two doses of vaccine.