BUENOS AIRES, Dec 30 (NNN-Xinhua) — Argentina reported 20,263 new cases of COVID-19 and 31 more deaths related to the disease in the past 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said.
The daily cases was the highest in five months, only slightly lower than the previous record of 21,590 cases on July 6.
According to the ministry, the latest figures raise the total caseload to 5,480,305 and the death toll to 117,066, with 92,395 currently active cases.
The Omicron variant “is transmitted very quickly, even in open-air spaces and in vaccinated people,” said Argentine Health Minister Carla Vizzotti , adding the fact “that it infects vaccinated people does not mean the vaccines do not work — the cases are very mild.”
PANAMA CITY: Panama registered 17 new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the variant’s cases to 26, the Ministry of Health reported.
The new cases involved 11 women and six men between the ages of 24 and 60, according to the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies, the ministry said.
The cases were detected in Panama City’s metropolitan area and San Miguelito in Panama province, as well as in the neighboring province of Panama Oeste.
None of the patients required hospitalization, the ministry said, adding they have been in isolation since testing positive.
The Central American country’s first case of the variant was detected on Dec 20 in a 50-year-old man.
According to health authorities, all but one of those infected had traveled to South Africa, Colombia, Spain, the United States or Puerto Rico.
MONTEVIDEO: Uruguayan Public Health Minister Daniel Salinas confirmed the country’s first cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Researcher Gregorio Iraola of the Pasteur Institute in Montevideo “has been able to confirm” that “the Omicron variant has entered our country,” Salinas told reporters.
“We expect a (viral) behavior similar to that worldwide, that is a very steep increase in cases,” despite 75 percent of the population having been fully vaccinated, Salinas said.
Uruguay registered 913 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily number since July 1, while active cases climbed from 4,230 to 4,820, the highest number since July 17.
The South American country has logged 408,894 cases of infection and 6,167 deaths during the pandemic. — NNN-XINHUA
