Geneva: The total deaths caused by COVID-19 pandemic crossed the four million figure today and the World Health Organisation stated the world is at a perilous point in this pandemic.
“We have just passed the tragic milestone of 4 million recorded COVID-19 deaths, which likely underestimates the overall toll,” informed WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today. He said variants are currently winning the race against vaccines because of inequitable vaccine production and distribution, which also threatens the global economic recovery.
Globally, after a decline in newly reported cases for seven consecutive weeks, there has been a slight increase in new weekly cases in the last two weeks, with over 2.6 million cases reported last week (June 28 – July 4, 2021) as compared to the previous week. During this period all regions except the Americas reported an increase in new cases. Moreover, all regions, with the exception of the Americas and South-East Asia Regions(including India), reported an increase in the number of deaths in the past week.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from Brazil (364 709 new cases; 30% decrease), India (312 250 new cases; 11% decrease), Colombia (204 556 new cases; similar to last week), Indonesia (168 780 new cases; 35% increase), and the United Kingdom (161 805 new cases; 67% increase). Over the past week, the highest numbers of new cases per 100 000 population were reported from Seychelles (758 new cases per 100 000 population), Mongolia (472 new cases per 100 000 population), Colombia (402 new cases per 100 000 population), Namibia (367 new cases per 100 000 population) and Cyprus (324 new cases per 100 000 population).
Globally, cases of the Alpha variant have been reported in 173 countries, territories or areas (hereafter countries; one new country in the past week), Beta in 122 countries (three new countries), Gamma in 74 countries (two new countries) and Delta in 104 countries (7 new countries).
“It didn’t have to be this way and it doesn’t have to be this way going forward,” the WHO D-G averred, adding that from a moral, epidemiological or economic point view, now is the time for the world to come together to tackle this pandemic collectively.
Some countries with high vaccination coverage are now planning to rollout booster shots in the coming months and are dropping public health social measures and relaxing as though the pandemic is already over. However, compounded by fast moving variants and shocking inequity in vaccination, far too many countries in every region of the world are seeing sharp spikes in cases and hospitalisation. This is leading to an acute shortage of oxygen, treatments and driving a wave of death in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
“Vaccine nationalism, where a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally indefensible and an ineffective public health strategy against a respiratory virus that is mutating quickly and becoming increasingly effective at moving from human-to-human,” Dr.Ghebreyesus regretted. He said at this stage in the pandemic, the fact that millions of health and care workers have still not been vaccinated is abhorrent.
Later this week, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will meet. This is another crucial opportunity for leaders to take urgent steps to end the acute stage of this pandemic, providing the necessary funding to scale up the equitable manufacturing and distribution of health tools. “I have called repeatedly for 10 percent of people in all countries to be vaccinated by September and for that figure to rise to 40 percent by the end of the year. It would position the world on the path to vaccinating 70 percent of the people in all countries by the middle of 2022,” the WHO D-G said. He called on the G20 Finance Ministers and other leaders to get behind these targets collectively “because it is the fastest way to end the acute stage of the pandemic, save lives and livelihoods and drive a truly global economic recovery”.
– global bihari bureau
