Global Covid deaths rose last week after five weeks of decline

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.

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.

And, an outbreak in China’s Beijing 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. A total of 351 cases have been reported since June 9.

N Korea sees another disease outbreak

North Korea on Thursday reported the eruption of another infectious disease in addition to its Covid outbreak, saying leader Kim Jong Un has donated his private medicines to those stricken with the new disease.

It’s unclear how serious the new “an enteric epidemic” is, but some outside observers say North Korea likely aims to burnish Kim’s image as a leader caring about public livelihoods as he needs public support to overcome Covid-related hardships.

There are no details yet on exactly what it is and how many are affected.