Global Covid deaths top 4.5mn as Delta variant wreaks havoc
The world has passed the grim threshold of 4.5 million Covid-19 deaths, according to an AFP tally on Monday, as the virulent Delta variant wreaks havoc globally. Since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, the virus has killed over of 4,500,600 people, the tally of official sources revealed.
Some 10,000 deaths are reported every day in the world, a much lower figure than the highs of January when an average of 14,800 people were being killed daily.
With an average of 1,290 confirmed Covid-related fatalities per day over the past week, the US has once again become the country with the most new fatalities in the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that another 236,000 people could die from Covid in Europe by December 1, sounding the alarm over rising infections and stagnating vaccine rate on the continent.
“Last week, there was an 11% increase in the number of deaths in the region - one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe, by December 1,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said on Monday.
Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date.
Australia reported four fatalities on Monday, taking the total death toll from Covid-19 to 1,003, according to government data.
Meanwhile, some 2 million French workers in restaurants and other service jobs must now show a health pass to go to work, as part of government virusfighting efforts.
New variant in S Africa
South Africa has told the WHO that a new variant of the coronavirus may be circulating in the country and spreading to other regions, the news website New Frame reported.
To date, the variant is called C.1.2 and is potentially a variant of interest, though not yet a variant of concern, according to New Frame, which cited Anban Pillay, deputy director-general of the department of health.
New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to US drugmaker Pfizer’s vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side effect leading to inflammation of her heart muscle.