Bochnia Hospital paramedics wear protective equipment while transporting a patient with COVID-19 to a local hospital on March 17, 2021 in Bochnia, Poland.
Omar Marques | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The World Health Organization said Monday the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic is now “growing exponentially,” with more than 4.4 million new Covid-19 cases reported in the past week.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the bureau’s technical leader for Covid-19, said “we are at a critical point of the pandemic” as some countries relax restrictions even as the number of new cases per week is more than eight times higher than a year ago.
“This is not the situation we want to have in 16 months in a pandemic where we have proven controls. Now is the time when everyone needs to take stock and have a reality check of what we need to do,” she says. said at a press conference. “Vaccines and vaccinations are coming online, but they are not available in every part of the world yet.”
Covid-19 cases were up 9% around the world last week – the seventh consecutive weekly increase – and the death toll was up 5%, she said, asking governments to support their citizens in implementing pandemic security measures.
Last month, WHO officials warned of a steady increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths, urging people to adhere to mask mandates and social distancing rules as the world enters a critical phase of the pandemic.
The virus is “stronger, it’s faster” with the emergence of new variants that spread more easily and are more deadly than the original wild strain of the virus, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO health emergency program, on March 31. “We all struggle” with and sick of restrictive lockdowns, he said.
India has overtaken Brazil as the second most heavily infected country after the United States after Covid-19 cases continued to rise across India, where a double-mutant variant that researchers say could be more contagious has surfaced and is spreading rapidly.
In the US, B.1.1.7, the highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the UK, is now the most common strain circulating, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.
Hospitals are also seeing an increase in the number of young people being admitted, she said.
Walensky said the US needs to speed up its vaccination efforts, which average about 3.1 million injections per day. “We need to keep vaccinating as many Americans as possible every day,” Walensky said, adding that new cases and deaths will decrease.
The WHO urged the public and world leaders to continue to implement safety measures, including social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding crowded areas.