Europe deaths from COVID top 1 million
A top official from the World Health Organization says Europe has surpassed 1 million deaths from COVID19 and the situation remains “serious,” with about 1.6 million new cases reported each week in the region.
The comments by Dr. Hans Kluge on Thursday aimed to emphasize that Europe must keep up its guard with social distancing and speed up vaccinations as virus variants drive new infections to record levels in some nations.
Overall, a tally by Johns Hopkins University shows nearly 3 million deaths have been linked to COVID19 worldwide — with the Americas hardest hit, followed by Europe. The United States, Brazil and Mexico have reported the highest number of deaths, collectively at more than 1.1 million.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Greece, Kluge did point to “early signs that transmission may be slowing across several countries” in WHO’s 53country European region, which stretches into Central Asia — and cited “declining incidence” among the oldest people.
He said the proportion of COVID19 deaths among people over 80, who have been prioritized for vaccines, had dropped to nearly 30% — the lowest level in the pandemic.
2 biggest cities shut down
India’s two largest cities — New Delhi and Mumbai — imposed stringent restrictions on movement and Delhi planned to use hotels and banquet halls to treat coronavirus patients as new infections in the country shot past 200,000 Thursday amid a devastating surge that is straining a fragile health system.
The soaring cases and deaths come just months after India thought it had seen the worst of the pandemic — and have forced the country to delay exports of vaccines abroad. India is a major producer of COVID19 shots, and its pivot to focus on domestic demand has weighed heavily on global efforts to end the pandemic.
Death toll rises to 100,000
France on Thursday became the third country in Europe after the United Kingdom and Italy to reach the unwanted milestone of 100,000 COVID19-related deaths as new infections and deaths surged due to virus variants. The country of 67 million is the eighth nation in the world to reach the mark after a year of hospital tensions, onandoff lockdowns and personal losses that have left families nationwide grieving the pandemic’s impact.
France added 300 new deaths Thursday to the previous day’s tally, bringing the total to 100,077 deaths.
‘We will die unless we act’
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a strict stayathome twoweek lockdown in the capital Phnom Penh starting Thursday to slow a surge in coronavirus cases, warning “we will die unless we act responsibly.” With the vaccination campaign still at an early stage, the Health Ministry reported 178 news cases on Wednesday, including 145 plus two deaths in Phnom Penh. Cambodia has so far confirmed 4,874 cases and 35 deaths.
60 million doses in deal
Iran has finalized a deal with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the staterun IRNA news agency reported Thursday.
The report quotes Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, as saying the contract has been “signed and finalized” for enough vaccinations to inoculate 30 million people. Jalali said Iran will receive the vaccines by the end of the year. On Saturday, Iran began a 10day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
Only some 200,000 doses have been administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization.
Vaccines now more accessible
Homeless Americans who have been left off priority lists for coronavirus vaccinations — or even bumped aside as states shifted eligibility to older age groups — are finally getting their shots as vaccine supplies increase. With eligibility opening widely, homeless service providers are mobilizing to get vaccine to shelters and encampments. In January 2020, a onenight tally showed 580,000 homeless people in the United States.