Climbing Over the Omicron Wall

March 11, 2022 marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. On that day, the world registered 7,728 new cases - the largest share of which were in Italy, while the U.S. recorded just 365, bringing the cumulative total there to 1,147. China's official total by this stage was over 80,000 but the rate of daily new cases had slowed significantly compared to the new hotspots of Italy, Iran, Spain and France. Russia was still only reporting 20 cases in all.

Of course, what happened subsequently is painfully present in all of our minds. This infographic takes a look back at the numerous infection waves of the past two years, including the more deadly Delta variant and finally, the far more infectious Omicron which has thankfully proven to cause far lower hospitalization and death rates.

According to Our World in Data, the seven-day average of global new Covid cases climbed close to 3.5 million in late January, over four times the previous peak reached in April 2021. Due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, many countries experienced a surge that resembled more of a vertical wall than a steady climb as seen in previous waves. Globally, we seem to have climbed over this figurative barrier to normal life as quickly as it was raised up in front of us.

This two-year-old pandemic is still far from over, however, with experts such as the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, warning that "the increasing presence of the BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron and the recent slight increase in infections in those over 55 show that the pandemic is not over and that we can expect to see Covid circulating at high levels."