Covid yet to peak in Americas, resurfacing in Europe: WHO
World body signals prospect of fresh lockdowns in central and South America
GENEVA: The coronavirus pandemic has yet to peak in the Americas, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday, as it said global infections were likely to hit 10 million within a week.
The WHO said the length and height of peaks would be determined by government actions, without which a lurch back towards lockdowns was unavoidable.
“In the first month of this outbreak, less than 10,000 cases were reported to WHO. In the last month, almost four million cases have been reported,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference. “We may reach a total of 10 million cases within a week.”
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan warned that the virus was still raging in the Americas and raised the prospect of fresh lockdown measures.
“It’s particularly intense in Central and South America,” he said. “We’ve seen a steady and worrying continuation of trend, with many countries experiencing between a 25% and 50% rise in cases over the last week. Unfortunately, the pandemic for many countries in the Americas has not peaked,” he said, and was “likely to result in a sustained number of cases and continued deaths in the coming weeks”.
After the US, Brazil is the hardest-hit country, with more than 52,600 deaths.
The world body also raised concerns over a resurgence of the virus in Europe as restrictions are being eased. “Last week, Europe saw an increase in weekly cases for the first time in months,” the WHO’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.
WHO director general Tedros also warned that the world is facing a shortage of oxygen concentrators. Tedros told reporters, “Demand is currently outstripping supply.”
The US, meanwhile, reported 34,720 new cases from Tuesday, which was more than the previous high of 34,203 recorded on April 25.