Paramedics drop a patient from an ambulance outside the emergency department of Royal London Hospital in London, England, on January 26, 2021.
David Cliff | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Most regions around the world are seeing an increase in new Covid-19 cases as highly contagious variants continue to spread, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
New cases worldwide rose by 8% in the last week, the fifth consecutive week in which the WHO has seen an increase in transmission, Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s technical director for Covid-19, told reporters.
Cases in Europe, where the highly contagious variant B.1.1.7 is spreading rapidly, have increased by 12%, Van Kerkhove said. WHO also saw a 49% increase in cases in the South-East Asia region, an 8% increase in the East The Mediterranean region and a 29 percent increase in the Western Pacific region, driven by an increase in infections in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, she said.
America and Africa saw a “slight decline,” Van Kerkhove said, but said the total number of cases was “worrying.”
“There is pressure to open in many of these countries and there are difficulties in people, individuals and communities to comply with proven control measures,” she said, adding that there has been a “slight increase” in deaths worldwide. We also see that the distribution of vaccination is uneven and unfair.
WHO comments are emerging as public health officials around the world become concerned that reopening too quickly amid growing new highly contagious variants could reverse the progress of the global pandemic. Some countries, including the United States, have seen an increase in new cases of Covid-19, even though they vaccinate millions of citizens every day.
About 82.7 million Americans have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and more than 44.9 million are fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, the seven-day average of new cases has risen 5% or more in 27 states since Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation recorded an average of 54,308 new cases per day in the last week – a 1% increase from the previous week after months of rapidly declining case numbers, according to Hopkins data.
Earlier Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the state would likely suspend its reopening plans as Covid-19 cases begin to rise again there.
Also Monday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged all Americans to remain “vigilant” as officials fight to vaccinate most Americans.
“We are at a critical juncture in this pandemic,” Walensky said during a White House press briefing. “I am worried that if we do not take the right measures now, we will have a new growth that can be avoided, as we see now in Europe.”
Van Kerkhove urged the public to continue to practice safety measures, including social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding crowded spaces. She also urged world leaders to prioritize vaccinating people at highest risk.
“There are still many more things we can do at the individual level, at the community level, as leaders in government,” she said.