Daily Times

COVID-19 cases to surge in February according to study

By February, it is anticipated that the number of coronavirus cases worldwide will have gradually increased to 18.7 million each day. According to a University of Washington research, the current daily average is close to 16.7 million. It is far less than last winter, when the Omicron version increased the estimated peak daily average to nearly 80 million; additionally, it is not anticipated that the increase will result in a significant rise in fatalities.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the university predicts that from 1 February, the average death rate will increase from roughly 1,660 to 2,748. In January 2022, there were almost 11 million fatalities every day.

Due to variables like people staying indoors more over the winter, COVID infections in the US are expected to increase by a third to more than a million every day during the same period. However, the authors of the study believe that a spike in cases in Germany has already crested and will decline by more than a third to roughly 190,000.

The IHME claims that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 or BQ.1.1 may be to blame for the recent increase in cases and hospitalizations in Germany, and that it may spread to other regions of Europe in the following weeks.
According to the data, a second Omicron subvariant named XBB is also responsible for the rise in admissions in Singapore.

The variety, according to experts from the University of Washington, is more contagious but less harmful. They go on to say that since persons who have already contracted the BA.5 Omicron subvariant are probably immune to it, the threat posed by XBB is anticipated to be lessened.