On April 15, a woman is vaccinated in Richmond, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
More people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past seven days than in any other week since the start of the pandemic – with an increase of 5.2 million worldwide – and the worst outbreaks are accelerating in many countries that are not well equipped to deal with address them.
The worrying trend, just days after the world exceeds 3 million deaths, is as countries introduce vaccinations in an effort to get the virus under control. Johns Hopkins University data showing a 12% increase in infections from a week earlier casts doubt hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
The weekly increase surpassed the previous high set in mid-December. While the number of infections in the US and UK has largely decreased, countries in developing countries – notably India and Brazil – are carrying a rising caseload.
Worrying signs
New infections worldwide reached record levels despite the introduction of vaccines
Source: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg, April 19 at 9:00 am HKT
The global death toll is also getting back on track. The number of fatalities has increased over the past month to about 82,000 in the week ending April 18, an average of nearly 12,000 per day. That’s up from just over 60,000 in the week ending March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent low.
India and Brazil are the two biggest contributors to powering business globally – a race neither one wants to win. India is facing a sudden increase in the number of coronavirus infections is once again home to the world’s second largest outbreak, overtaking Brazil after the country moved forward in March. Hospitals of Mumbai to Sao Paulo is under increasing pressure as the number of admissions continues to rise.
Residents wait in an observation area after receiving Covid-19 vaccines in Richmond, California, on April 15.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
According to Bloomberg, India and Brazil have so far administered doses equivalent to 4.5% and 8.3% of their population, respectively, compared to 33% for the US and 32% in the UK. vaccine tracker.
Serious setbacks
But it is not just developing countries that have seen setbacks recently in their efforts to tackle the pandemic. Rare cases of clotting have been observed in people who have used vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc has fueled the vaccine skepticism facing governments worldwide.
New variants of the virus have also caused infections to increase further. In Brazil, one of the most potentially deadly mutations of the coronavirus, the P.1 variant, was identified in December. Studies suggest these species – along with variants first seen in South Africa and the UK – are more contagious.
Adds weekly mortality rates in the fourth paragraph