Daily cases of COVID-19 are currently falling in most of the world, and the number of deaths – which had risen globally until the end of January – is also starting to decline.
The big picture: We can only learn so much from this 30,000-foot view, and there is plenty to fear from the emerging variants. In addition, the cases and deaths were so high that even after descending from the top, we are still fairly close to the top.
- But this is the first time since the start of the pandemic where cases have occurred simultaneously in virtually every region of the world. At the global level, virtually the only number that is rising is the vaccine doses administered.
- And in some places – for example in South Asia – confidence is growing that the worst pandemic will be over before vaccines are widely available.
Our thought bubble: The optimism has not aged well during this pandemic and this graph may look very different in a few weeks.