Nations around the world set new records on Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections, and the disease even increased in some countries that have kept the virus in check. In the United States, Detroit leaders began planning to knock on every door to convince people to shoot.
Brazil became only the third country this week, after the US and Peru, to report a 24-hour count of COVID-19 deaths of more than 4,000India peaked of nearly 127,000 new cases in 24 hours, and Iran set a new record for coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day, which reported nearly 22,600 new cases.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get vaccinated and wrote in a tweet: “Vaccination is one of the few ways we have to beat the virus. If you are a candidate for the vaccine, you should get an injection quickly. “
The US now has nearly 20% of the adult population fully vaccinated, and New Mexico became the first state to get shot in the arms of 25% of its residents – milestones that are a long way off for many hard-hit countries.
In India, home to 1.4 billion people, only 11 million are fully vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, an online research site, in Brazil, less than 3% of the country’s 210 million residents have received both doses.
South Korea reported 700 more cases, the highest daily jump since January 5. Health authorities were expected to announce measures to strengthen social distance after a meeting on Friday.
In Thailand, which reported just 95 deaths in the pandemic, health officials reported the first local cases of the coronavirus variant in the country. first discovered in Great Britain. The news comes at a time when only 1% of the population has been vaccinated and as Thais prepare to celebrate the traditional Songkran New Year holiday next week, usually a time of widespread travel.
That variant is more contagious, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it is now the most common variant in the United States, voicing concerns that it will cause infections and cause more people to get sick.
Michigan has an average of more than 7,000 new cases per day – a number that makes the state second in the country behind New York. Michigan also has the highest number of new cases per capita, with 1 in 203 residents of the state being diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 31 and April 7, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
In Detroit, which is about 80% black, officials said they plan to visit homes to talk about the importance of protecting against the virus with vaccinations and how to sign up to receive the injections.
“We’re going to knock on every living door in town to make sure every Detroiter knows how to make an appointment,” Victoria Kovari, an executive assistant to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told The Detroit News.
According to Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, only 22% of Detroit residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, compared to 38% for all of Michigan.
Other Midwestern states have seen troubling signs in recent days, including a school district in Iowa where 127 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus or are believed to be positive.
In Massachusetts, where the seven-day moving average of daily new cases has risen to more than 2,100 new cases per day, the Massachusetts Public Health Association called on the Charlie Baker Republican government to reinstate public health measures. The group urged Baker to limit indoor eating and other indoor activities, saying the increase in cases and hospitalizations followed Baker’s decision to relax those restrictions.
“We are currently in a race between the vaccines and the variants,” said Carlene Pavlos, the group’s director Thursday. “Without these public health measures, even more innocent lives will be unnecessarily lost.”