Palestinian children play outside their homes during a cold weather spell in a slum on the outskirts of the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Jan 19, 2022. (KHALIL HAMRA/AP)
SEOUL / WELLINGTON / ANKARA / GAZA – A Palestinian health official on Friday said the Gaza Strip is passing through a "difficult and catastrophic" situation due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
"The infection curve is rising at an accelerating and unprecedented rate," Fathi Abu Warda, an adviser to the Palestinian minister of health, told reporters in Gaza, adding that 95 patients are hospitalized with 63 in critical condition, and the occupancy rate of intensive care beds reached 56 percent.
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Abu Warda called on every citizen who suffers from COVID-19 or has any COVID-19 related symptoms should go immediately to the hospital, noting that 48 percent of the admitted patients in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip "are cases infected with Omicron."
"The current cold weather that hits the Palestinian territories and the lack of power in the Gaza Strip that reaches 12 hours blackout per day amid a shortage of warming means" have helped the spread of the virus, he said.
"So far, 30 percent only of the Gaza Strip populations have received the vaccinations," Abu Warda said, adding that the health ministry urges people to get jabbed.
On Friday, Palestine reported five fatalities and 5,380 new COVID-19 cases in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry's daily coronavirus report.
South Korea
South Korea reported 17,542 new coronavirus cases for Friday, another daily record after posting 16,096 a day before, amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Saturday.
Turkey
Turkey reported a record 93,586 daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 11,343,693, according to its health ministry.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 210 to 86,871, while 85,503 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.
The country's daily COVID-19 cases have rapidly surged to record high levels in the past weeks following the spread of the Omicron variant.
"The virus is not as strong as it once was. There's no need to be concerned about the rising numbers," Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted on Friday.
He said Turkish citizens could go about their daily lives as usual by taking precautions, but urged protection for the elderly and those suffering chronic diseases.
New Zealand
New Zealand reported 97 new community cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Among the new community infections, 61 are in the largest city Auckland, 14 in Waikato, eight in Bay of Plenty, seven in the Lakes region, three in Hawke's Bay, three in Tairawhiti, and one in Northland, according to the ministry.
In addition, 58 new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the New Zealand border.
New Zealand has 116 community cases of COVID-19 that have either been confirmed by whole-genome sequencing as the Omicron variant or have been linked to a previously reported Omicron case, said the ministry.
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The ministry urged everyone in New Zealand to act like Omicron is circulating in their community.
There are seven COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, but no COVID-19 patient was at the ICU.
The country has recorded 15,770 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 11,811 cases from the current community outbreak.
New Zealand is currently at the highest Red settings under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments, and gatherings are limited to 100 people.