COVID hospitalizations and death rose last week, along with other indicators and the proportion of newer Omicron variants such as EG.5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data updates.
The new figures for England show that more than 84,000 patients were admitted to hospital because of a heart attack in 2021/22 – a rise of more than 7,000 in a year.
Many of the new cases came in the Western Pacific region, which saw infections jump by 137 percent, the WHO said.
Several countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including the United States, United Kingdom, France and Japan have seen a summer uptick in cases in recent weeks.
China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced group travel could continue to 78 nations including the two popular destinations as well as Australia, Britain, Germany, Qatar and South Korea.
In its announcement today, the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) detailed the people who will be eligible to receive the vaccine in the fall—those most likely to benefit from vaccination. Aside from those ages 65 and older, the list includes people in nursing facilities and their caregivers, people ages 6 months to 64 who are in clinical risk groups, people ages 12 to 64 who are family contacts of immunocompromised people, and frontline health and social care workers.
A descendant of Omicron, Eris, or EG.5.1, was first classified as a variant in the UK on 31 July, but now accounts for one in 10 Covid cases.
It is now the second most prevalent variant in the UK, after Arcturus which makes up almost half of all infection cases at 39.4 per cent, according to UKHSA.
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