WHO: Covid-19 deaths rise, reversing a 5-week decline

CASES CONTINUE TO FALL SINCE THE PEAK IN JANUARY BUT THERE ARE STILL SPIKES IN INFECTIONS IN SOME REGIONS, THE AGENCY SAID.

GENEVA/BEIJING: After five weeks of declining coronavirus deaths, the number of fatalities reported globally increased by 4% last week, according to the World Health Organization.

In its weekly assessment of the pandemic issued on Thursday, the UN health agency said there were 8,700 Covid-19 deaths last week, with a 21% jump in the Americas and a 17% increase in the Western Pacific.

WHO said coronavirus cases continued to fall, with about 3.2 million new cases reported last week, extending a decline in Covid-19 infections since the peak in January. Still, there were significant spikes of infection in some regions, with the Middle East and Southeast Asia reporting increases of 58% and 33% respectively.

“Because many countries have reduced surveillance and testing, we know this number is underreported,” WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this week. He said there was “no acceptable level of deaths from Covid-19,” given that the global community now has the vaccines, medicines and diagnostics to stop the virus.

While many rich countries in Europe and North America have mostly dropped their virus restrictions, China’s extreme Covid-19 policies have meant more mass testing, quarantines and sequestering of anyone who was in contact with a case.

This week, US officials moved a step closer to authorising coronavirus vaccines for the youngest children, after the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for children under five years of age.

The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks for children under five — that’s roughly 18 million youngsters.

They are the last age group in the US without access to Covid-19 vaccines, and many parents have been anxious to protect their little children.

If all the regulatory steps are cleared, shots should be available next week.

Beijing outbreak easing

A Covid-19 outbreak in the Chinese capital centered on a bar is easing after the testing of millions of people and the halting of some leisure businesses, the city said on Thursday, as it declared an initial victory in its latest battle with the virus.

“After eight days of hard fighting and the concerted efforts of Beijing residents in the battle, the swift and decisive measures have shown their effect,” Beijing city government spokesperson Xu Hejian said.

The outbreak is tiny by global standards, with a total of 351 cases since it started on June 9.