Pandemic deaths are on the rise, WHO warns, as most cases are recorded at some point in one week in the world

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Last week, more than 5.2 million new cases were registered – the most in one week since the start of the pandemic – WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a newsletter in Geneva on Monday.

Deaths also rose for the fifth straight week, he said, with the pandemic now officially claiming more than 3 million lives.

And Tedros warned that the pace of the pandemic is accelerating, even as some countries tout their own improved vaccination programs.

“It took nine months to reach 1 million deaths, four months to reach 2 million deaths, and three months to reach 3 million deaths,” said Tedros. “Large numbers can numb us, but each of these deaths is a tragedy for families, communities and nations.”

And as more high-risk or older adults are fully vaccinated and some economies open up, the director general suggested that the biggest blow from the virus’s spread could spread to younger adults. He told reporters that infections and hospitalizations in people ages 25 to 59 “are increasing at an alarming rate,” possibly due to highly transmissible variants and increased social mixing among younger people.

Concerns about more young adults contracting Covid-19 have already been reported by doctors in some hot spots – including Brazil, where a new variant has caused a devastating rise in hospitalizations and deaths.

Shots are increasing because variants are a cause for concern

The WHO’s stark warning serves as a reminder of the state of the pandemic, which has not yet disappeared in the face of the world’s disparate vaccinations.

India is suffering from a disastrous second wave of the virus, and a significant proportion of global infections take place there. The country has reported more than 200,000 new cases in the past six days – nearly 1.5 million in the past week – and overcrowded hospitals reject patients while fighting the spread.
Hospital workers are treating a Covid-19 patient in Belgium earlier this month.

One of the many active cases in India is former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has been hospitalized in stable condition after contracting Covid-19.

With more than 15 million infections, the country is now in second place worldwide after the United States. The US has reported nearly 32 million infections.

England added India to its travel ban list on Monday and Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled a planned trip there, but a political campaign is ongoing despite the dire situation.

Narendra Modi’s ruling party said it would hold “small public gatherings” of up to 500 people in the state of West Bengal, one of five states currently holding state elections, the party said Monday.

Much of Asia is similarly affected by increasing cases. A wave in Thailand has dampened hopes of welcoming more tourists there, with catering establishments identified as the cause of recent outbreaks.
In the US, where millions of people are vaccinated daily, the number of cases and hospital admissions has increased in the last month. Experts cite coronavirus variants – including the more contagious B.1.1.7 strain that recently sparked a new wave in Michigan – and a spreading feeling of pandemic fatigue as contributing factors.
India will offer Covid-19 vaccines to anyone 18 and older in May

Meanwhile, in Europe, there are some signs of a plateau in the third wave of infections across the continent, and a bumpy rollout of vaccines across the European Union is starting to accelerate.

But vaccine reluctance and the lingering effects of previous vaccine scares are still evident; a mass vaccination center in the southern French city of Nice was forced to close early on the weekend after only 58 people showed up for 4,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – which may be linked to a very small number of rare cases of blood clots – a spokesman said from the regional police to CNN.

And European regulators face a different decision on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which US authorities have suspended after a handful of cases of clotting were reported. A decision by the European Medicines Agency on the admission is expected on Tuesday.

CNN’s Naomi Thomas, Christina Maxouris and Saskya Vandoorne contributed to the reporting

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