The world records the worst daily death toll from coronavirus

Daily mortality from the action of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus reported the most serious data so far in the pandemic Saturday, recording 15,000 deaths from covid-19 disease in the past 24 hours, while several countries of the world is already applying aggressive vaccination plans.

For the World Health Organization (WHO), which reported the number at its traditional daily press conference from Geneva (Switzerland), it is a record figure that puts the total number of deaths from the pandemic at 1.9 million.

The United Nations system health entity also confirmed that 800,000 new infections from the pathogen were also recorded, one of the highest daily rates in more than a year of health crisis, leaving the global total at 87.5 million.

The Johns Hopkins University figures, in turn, appear to be closer to those of the WHO, as they record that in the same period, 14,858 people died as a result of COVID-19, while 812,212 infections occurred.

According to the WHO report, in Europe, with an accumulated 28 million cases and 622,000 deaths, and in which 273,000 cases and 6,000 deaths were recorded between Friday and Saturday, there is no evidence of a clear recovery compared to previous weeks.

America is the one most concerned in all lines of the pandemic. 440,000 positive diagnoses and 7,800 deaths were added on the same day, putting the continent piling up 38 million infections and more than 900,000 deaths in more than a year of pandemic.

Most experts conclude that the holidays, which included Christmas celebrations without respect for social distance, mask use, and hand washing, are reported in the increase in hospital admissions, causing systems to collapse, especially in Latin America.

The United States remains the most affected country, with 21 million cases, followed by India (10 million) and Brazil, which reported a record number of daily cases (62,000, infecting more than 8 million) last day.

The United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson again declared a strict quarantine on Jan. 4 in the face of the exponential rise in the number of cases and deaths, maintains a growth curve of positives steadily rising at 2.9 million as Russia continues. in the opposite direction with an accumulation of 3.3 million.

In France (2.7 million infections), Italy (2.2 million) and Spain (2 million), the curve of the daily positives is rising again, but has not yet reached the highs of November.

Germany (1.8 million cases in total) shows some stabilization after weeks of strong growth, while Colombia continues to set day records and has 1.7 million positives.

South Africa “leads” on its continent

Although Africa is one of the continents least affected by the pandemic, health authorities are looking with concern at the increase in infections and deaths, which have already reached 3 million and 72,000 respectively, according to US authorities. Johns Hopkins University.

But 40.3% of all cases on the continent and 32,824 deaths occur in just one country: South Africa.

“The number of cases has increased rapidly in recent weeks as we de-escalated and people started moving,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told Efe today.

South Africa is facing a more aggressive second wave, due in part to the presence of the coronavirus variant N501Y, which is said to be more transmissible and behind the more than 110,000 registered infections recorded last week.

South Africa is followed by Morocco with almost half a million infections, Tunisia (almost 155,000), Egypt (147,810) and Ethiopia (127,572).

Royal vaccination and death of the papal physician

In the midst of total incarceration in the UK, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip of Edinburgh, received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine this Saturday.

The Sovereign, 94, and the Duke, 99, were vaccinated by a royal physician at their residence at Windsor Castle, outside London.

Elsewhere in Europe, in the Vatican, it was reported that Fabrizzio Socorsi, Pope Francis’ personal physician, died as a result of COVID-19.

Soccorsi, 78, was admitted to Gemelli Hospital for an oncological pathology and was chosen by Francisco as a personal physician in 2015 when he was an advisor to the Vatican’s Health and Hygiene Directorate and Hepatology Emeritus Director at San Camilo Hospital in Rome .

On January 2, the Vatican announced that it will begin its coronavirus vaccination campaign, predictably by mid-month, prioritizing health and public safety personnel, the elderly and workers in contact with the public.

Controversial party in Chile

A clandestine party in a country house on the coast of Chile attended by young people from wealthy families is causing widespread controversy as it ends without prisoners, unlike other illegal gatherings that ended with dozens of arrests this week.

In recent hours, a video and audio of young people who recently met in a house in the exclusive seaside town of Cachagua, 180 kilometers northwest of Santiago, has been circulating through social networks to drink and dance without a mask or social distance.

Those in attendance included children of delegates and businessmen from Santiago’s wealthiest neighborhoods, graduates from the best schools in the country, local media said.

There have already been 20 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 among those attending that party and the Department of Health is investigating the possibility of carriers with the British species, which is characterized by its greater aggressiveness when infected. EFE