World passes ‘painful threshold’ of five million Covid deaths

The global coronavirus death toll exceeded five million yesterday – prompting calls for ensuring that vaccines reach poorer countries.

UN chief Antonio Guterres described the “painful new threshold” of five million lives “cut short by a merciless virus that respects no borders” and said vaccines were still being hoarded by rich nations.

“This devastating milestone reminds us that we are failing much of the world,” the UN Secretary General said.

“While wealthy countries are rolling out third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, only about five per cent of people in Africa are fully vaccinated.”

His comments came as Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore confirmed reports of five million Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak emerged in December 2019.

The World Health Organisation said the pandemic’s overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records suggest, owing to deaths directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.

More than 247.6 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally. The vast majority of those infected have recovered, although some people still experience symptoms weeks and months later.

Many less severe or symptomless Covid-19 cases go undetected.

On Sunday, 4,611 new deaths and 327,519 new cases were recorded worldwide. The countries with the highest number of new deaths were Russia (1,158), followed by Romania (394) and Ukraine (336).

Overall, the US is the worstaffected country, with more than 766,000 deaths from over 46.8 million cases.

Mr Guterres urged leaders to follow the UN’s global vaccine plan and get 40 per cent of humanity inoculated this year, and 70 per cent of the world population by the end of 2022.

“It would be a mistake to think that the pandemic is over,” Mr Guterres said.

“As restrictions ease in many places, we must also match vaccines with vigilance – including through smart and proven public health measures like masking and social distancing.”

China’s decision to postpone the Beijing and Wuhan marathons owing to concerns about Covid-19 has shone a light on the country’s stringent efforts to combat the disease.

The Wuhan Marathon was scheduled for October 24, while the Beijing race was meant to be held on Sunday, but the plug was pulled on both because of an increase in Covid-19 cases.

By international standards, China’s tallies of fewer than 100 cases a day remain remarkably low, especially considering it is the world’s most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people.

But in a country where the aim has been to eradicate Covid-19, reports of cases in several provinces are a major concern.

Q What measures is China taking to control the virus?

A The country locked down early and restricted internal travel. As a result, the authorities have been successful at controlling the spread of infection while allowing life to mostly return to normal.

China has reported about 97,000 cases and the death toll remains below 5,000.

“It is still pursuing the eradication strategy and that isn’t likely to change any time soon,” said Dr Nicholas Thomas, an associate professor at City University of Hong Kong who is researching how the disease affects the region.

China continues to introduce localised lockdowns where necessary, while international travel remains heavily restricted.

Last week, a lockdown was imposed in the north-western city of Lanzhou, home to four million people, after a small number of cases were reported.

Why has China continued its Covid-19 eradication strategy?

China has fully vaccinated 71 per cent of its population, data from mid-September showed.

The figures are the most recent to be published by Our World in Data.

In many countries where such a large a share of the population has been inoculated, the authorities have eased travel restrictions or are planning to, but China has continued to enforce strict border controls.

“If China is going to open up, it needs to be giving its population booster shots that are effective against the Delta variant,” Dr Thomas said.

Sinopharm and other Chinese pharmaceutical companies have been working on mRNA vaccines.

Chinese media reported that one major plant was expected to begin producing doses last month.

But being inoculated with an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine is not a guarantee of high efficacy. While the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots have proved highly effective, another mRNA vaccine, developed by German company CureVac, produced disappointing results.

Is there a push for China to open up?

With far fewer Chinese people travelling overseas, its citizens have been spending their money at home. As a result, the economy grew last year.

“In shutting its borders, the Chinese government has promoted the development of the domestic consumer market, which has been a long-term goal,” Dr Thomas said.

“The reality is that the domestic economy hasn’t taken such a large hit, so China has been able to focus on the public health responses.”

A relatively strong economy has helped China to sidestep social or political issues over its strategy, Dr Thomas said.

But securing investment may prove a challenge compared with countries where border restrictions have eased.

This may lead China to consider changing its Covid19 strategy, but Dr Thomas believes a change of approach is unlikely for now.

“Realistically, we’re looking at least until the middle of next year, if not the end of next year, before there are any significant changes,” he said.