The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. March 18, 2022 Global Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Again, as BA.2 Subvariant Spreads --------------------------------------------------------------------- The World Health Organization is warning the coronavirus pandemic is far from over, with the number of global daily cases again on the rise. Many European countries are experiencing a new surge in cases tied to BA.2, a fast-spreading subvariant of the Omicron variant. China has expanded lockdowns in major cities as it struggles to maintain its zero-COVID strategy amid its worst outbreak since early 2020. Meanwhile, South Korea reported more than 620,000 new cases and 429 deaths on Thursday alone. Until this year, South Korea had one of the world's most successful responses to COVID-19.  .