A woman is vaccinated in Richmond, California, on April 15.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
More people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last seven days than any other week since the beginning of the pandemic – exceeding 5.2 million globally – with the worst outbreaks accelerating in many countries that are poorly equipped to do so. face.
The worrying trend, just days after the world has surpassed 3 million deaths, comes as countries launch vaccinations in an effort to control the virus. Data from Johns Hopkins University showing a 12% increase in infections a week earlier casts doubt on the hope that the end of the pandemic is being seen.
The weekly increase exceeded the previous set set in mid-December. While infection rates have fallen sharply in the US and the UK, developing world countries – especially India and Brazil – are on the rise.
Worrying signs
New infections worldwide have reached a record high despite the launch of the vaccine
Source: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg, starting at 9:00 HKT on April 19
The overall death toll is picking up again. Deaths have risen in the last month and were about 82,000 in the week ended April 18, averaging almost 12,000 a day. This rose from just over 60,000 in the week ending March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent nadir.
India and Brazil are the biggest contributors to the growing number of cases globally – a race that neither of them wants to win. In the face of a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, India hosts again the second outbreak in the world, overtaking Brazil after the latter advanced in March. Hospitals in Mumbai to Sao Paulo is facing increasing pressure as admissions continue to rise.
Residents are waiting in an observation area after receiving Covid-19 vaccines in Richmond, California, on April 15.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
To date, India and Brazil have administered doses equivalent to 4.5% and 8.3% of their population, respectively, compared to 33% in the US and 32% in the UK, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
Serious contrasts
But not only developing nations have experienced recent setbacks in their efforts to combat the pandemic. Rare cases of coagulation observed in people who have received vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc has fueled skepticism about the vaccine facing governments around the world.
Also, new variants of the virus have caused an increase in infections. Brazil is where one of the most potentially deadly coronavirus mutations, variant P.1, was identified in December. Studies suggest that these strains – along with variants first encountered in South Africa and the United Kingdom – are more contagious.
(Add the weekly death rates in the fourth paragraph)