Highly transmissible Omicron propelled the United States, France and Denmark to fresh records on Wednesday, with AFP's tally of 6.55 million infections reported globally for seven days through Tuesday showing the unprecedented spread.
They were the highest figures since the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic in March 2020, underscoring the blistering pace of Omicron transmission, with tens of millions of people facing a second consecutive year of restrictions dampening New Year's Eve celebrations.
"I am highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.
"This is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted health workers, and health systems on the brink of collapse," he added.
The surge, currently worst in Europe, is forcing governments to walk a tightrope between imposing restrictions designed to stop hospitals from becoming overwhelmed and the need to keep economies and societies open two years after the virus first emerged in late 2019.
The United States, where Omicron is already overwhelming hospitals, recorded its highest-ever seven-day average of new cases at 265,427, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
Harvard epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina tweeted that the count was likely the "tip of the iceberg" with the true number of cases likely far higher, because of a shortage of tests.
But the country also appears to be experiencing a decoupling between infections and severe outcomes compared to previous waves, officials noted, as evidence accumulates of milder outcomes under the new variant.
France on Wednesday registered a new daily record of more than 200,000 cases -- more than double the number recorded on Christmas Day -- and extended into January the closure of nightclubs.
Denmark, which currently has the world's highest rate of infection per person, recorded a fresh record of 23,228 new infections, which authorities attributed in part to the large numbers of tests carried out after Christmas celebrations.
Portugal also saw a record with nearly 27,000 cases reported in 24 hours, while Lebanon had 3,150 new infections -- its highest daily tally since vaccines rolled out earlier this year.
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