WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up quickly. Pakistan restricts domestic travel to contain an increase in coronavirus infections. Even Thailand, which has withstood the pandemic much better than many nations, is now struggling to contain a new COVID-19 peak.
The only exceptions to the deteriorating world situation are countries with advanced vaccination programs, especially Israel and the United Kingdom. Even the United States, which is a global leader in vaccinations, has seen a small increase in new cases, and the White House announced Friday that it will send federal aid to Michigan to control the state’s lowest transmission rate.
The World Health Organization said on Friday it was concerned about rising infection rates in each global region, caused by new virus variants and too many nations coming out of the blockade too soon.
“We have seen increases (in cases) worldwide for six weeks. And now, unfortunately, we are seeing increases in deaths over the last three weeks, “said Dr Margaret Harris, a WHO spokeswoman, at a briefing in Geneva.
In its latest weekly epidemiological update, the WHO said more than 4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the past week. New deaths rose 11% from last week, with more than 71,000 reported.
Rising infections, hospitalizations and deaths are spreading to countries where vaccinations are finally gaining momentum. This leaves even darker prospects for much of the world, where large-scale vaccination programs remain a more distant perspective.
In Turkey, which is among the most severely affected countries, most new cases of the virus can be traced to a variant first found in the UK.
Ismail Cinel, head of the Turkish Intensive Care Association, said growth had begun to strain the nation’s relatively advanced health care system and “sound the alarm bells” for intensive care units, which are not yet at full capacity.
“The mutant form of the virus causes more harm to organs,” Cinel said. “While 2 out of 10 patients died earlier, the number is now 4 out of 10. And if we continue like this, we will lose six.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eased restrictions on COVID-19 in early March to minimize the pain for his nation’s sick economy. The new increase forced it to announce renewed restrictions, such as weekend closures and the closure of cafes and restaurants during Ramadan, which begins on April 13th.
Turkish medical groups say the reopening in March was premature and that the new measures do not go far enough. They demanded complete blockades during the Muslim holy month.
In the US capital, President Joe Biden’s administration highlighted how the federal government planned to help Michigan better manage the doses already allocated to the state, as well as expand testing capacity and drug availability. The effort will not include any additional doses of the vaccine, a Gretchen Whitmer government has demanded.
Currently, doses are allocated to states proportionally by population. Whitmer called for additional doses to be transferred to states like hers that are experiencing a sharp rise in cases.
The death toll in Iran is also rising, leading to new restrictions that will take effect for 10 days in 257 cities starting Saturday. These involve the closure of all parks, restaurants, confectioneries, beauty salons, malls and bookstores.
Authorities in Pakistan, which is in the midst of a third wave of infections, are restricting long-distance transport over the weekend from midnight on Friday as part of measures to curb coronavirus cases and deaths.
Elsewhere in Asia, Thai authorities on Friday ordered new restrictions in an effort to counter a growing outbreak of coronavirus, just days before the traditional Songkran New Year holiday, when millions of people travel.
Meanwhile, Japan announced tougher measures ahead of the Summer Olympics.
In Germany, Poland and other European Union countries, with 27 members, vaccination programs are finally increasing, after a slow start in the first three months of the year due to lack of delivery.
Thousands of German medical practices have joined the vaccination campaign this week. This helped Germany reach its second consecutive daily record of almost 720,000 doses administered on Thursday – meaning that 14.7% of the population now received at least one dose and 5.8% received both photos.
However, German health officials warn of a sharp rise in patients on intensive care and call for stronger action to fight infections.
Lothar Wieler, head of the German Centers for Disease Control at the Robert Koch Institute, said nearly 4,500 patients with COVID-19 are receiving intensive care, up from 700 in the past week – a 20% increase.
Neighboring Poland is also experiencing a dramatic increase in deaths, and hospitals have been forced to remove cancer and other patients, as ICUs and other hospital beds are being taken by COVID-19 patients. Hospitalizations of patients with the virus there have increased by 20% in the last two weeks.
Harris, from the WHO, said that the world knows how to fight these surges. She cited good news from the UK, where new coronavirus cases fell by 60% in March amid a strong vaccination program, “but we have to do everything.”
“We must continue the social distance. We must avoid crowded settings inside. We must continue to wear masks, even if they are vaccinated, “she said. People do not misunderstand, seeming to believe that vaccination will stop transmission. It’s not necessary. We need to reduce transmission while giving vaccination a chance to stop the severe disease. ”
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Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
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