“Public health and social measures effective in reducing COVID-19 case incidence”
Geneva: Last week the reported cumulative COVID-19 death toll surpassed 3 million lives; the pace of deaths is accelerating, it took nine months to reach 1 million deaths, another four to surpass 2 million, and just three to reach 3 million deaths, the World Health Organisation figures have shown.
Globally, new COVID-19 cases rose for the eighth consecutive week, with over 5.2 million new cases reported in the last week ending April 18, 2021. The number of new deaths increased for the fifth consecutive week, increasing by 8% compared to last week, with over 83 000 new deaths reported.
While all WHO regions except the European Region reported an increase in incident cases in the last week, the largest increase continues to be reported by the South-East Asia Region, largely driven by India, followed by the Eastern Mediterranean Region, largely due to an increase in new deaths in Iran.
The countries reporting the highest number of new cases last week were India (1 429 304 new cases; 64% increase), the United States of America (477 778 new cases; 2% increase), Brazil (459 281 new cases; 1% decrease), Turkey (414 312 new cases; 17% increase), and France (233 275 new cases; 12% decrease).
Considering that the proportion of the population with immunity acquired through infection is likely less than 25%, the WHO said much of the global population is still susceptible to infection. Additionally, the degree and duration of immunity conferred by natural infection, COVID-19 vaccination or the combination of both are still being investigated, and WHO said that some studies suggest that those who receive vaccines may still transmit SARS-CoV2 infection to susceptible contacts.
“While our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the complex immune response triggered by it continues to grow, much still remains unknown including the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing transmission; the duration of immunity; the role of children in transmission; and the frequency and nature of post-COVID-19 condition (“long COVID”).” the WHO stated adding that the emergence of Variants of Concerns (VOCs) “introduces further unknowns such as the potential for immune escape and as to how these changes in the virus affect the global epidemiology”.
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WHO’s most recent assessment is that the global public health risk remains very high. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing, with global case and death incidence increasing at a concerning rate since mid-February 2021; a third of the global cumulative COVID-19 cases and deaths has been reported in the last three months alone, with weekly cases reaching similar levels as the previous peak in January 2021,” the WHO stated last night (Indian Standard Time). It said marked geographical variation in the pandemic trajectory continued to be observed at regional and country levels, with sharp rises observed in the South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions in recent weeks. The global infection fatality ratio (IFR) was estimated between 0.1% to 1.0%, an increase from January largely driven by an increase in the Region of the Americas. Globally mortality rates continued to be higher for those over 40 years as well as for males as compared to females.
The resurgences in the last four months have likely been driven in part by both the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs and inconsistent use/early easing of public health and social measures (PHSM), according to the WHO, which noted that while most people continue to support PHSM as part of national COVID-19 response strategies, pandemic fatigue was occurring, undermining the impact of PHSM on transmission. “In some countries, a lack of trust in government responses and increasing frustration and uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic, coupled with the economic impacts of the response to COVID-19, have led to protests against PHSM,” it pointed out. However, it stressed that PHSM remain critical to curb the spread of SARS- CoV-2 and its variants.
“Evidence from multiple countries with extensive transmission of VOCs has indicated that the implementation of PHSM and infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in health facilities has been effective in reducing COVID-19 case incidence, which has led to a reduction in hospitalisations and deaths among COVID-19 patients,” it stated. It said national and local authorities are encouraged to continue strengthening existing PHSM, IPC and disease control activities. “Authorities are also encouraged to strengthen surveillance and sequencing capacities and apply a systematic approach to provide a representative indication of the extent of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants based on the local context, and the detection of unusual events,” it said.
– global bihari bureau
