South Africa broke its own record of new daily COVID infections on Wednesday reporting 26,976 cases in a fourth wave fueled believed to be fueled by the Omicron variant COVID-19.

National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa revealed the new record number highlighting the previous record of 26,485, which was recorded in July earlier this year. The last wave was reportedly driven by the Delta variant of COVID.

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The health regulatory agency further announced 620 hospital admissions and 54 deaths related to COVID were recorded on the same day, according to reports from Reuters.

South Africa– where the Omicron variant was first detected last month– has been the worst impacted country on the continent. 

Experts in South Africa, citing multiple studies conducted in the country, said that Omicron may be more transmissible when compared to other variants of the deadly virus. However, the severity of the disease it causes is still being researched upon.

Meanwhile, United Kingdom recorded 78,610 new infections on Wednesday, 16% higher than the previous record set in January. While scientists are still studying the risks posed by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

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Britain is also accelerating its national vaccination program, with a goal of offering a booster dose to every adult by the end of December. The government said within days it will open new mass vaccination centers at sports stadiums around the country, including Wembley, the 90,000-seat national soccer stadium in London.

According to reports from CNBC citing data released by the British government, the country reported 165 deaths linked to COVID-19 complications on Wednesday, a number considered to be low in comparison to the previous wave of infections.  

(With AP inputs)