‘No new answers’ to Covid
The World Health Organisation has announced a new daily record high in coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide, with more than 350,000 infections reported to the United Nations health agency.
The new daily high of 350,766 cases yesterday surpassed a record set earlier this week by nearly 12,000, and included more than 109,000 cases from Europe alone.
WHO emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan acknowledged that even as Covid-19 continued to surge across the world, ‘‘there are no new answers’’.
He said that although the agency wanted countries to avoid the punishing lockdowns that have devastated economies, governments had to ensure that the most vulnerable people were protected and numerous measures were taken.
‘‘The majority of people in the world are still susceptible to this disease,’’ Ryan warned.
British scientists reported this week that the Covid-19 outbreak is doubling every few weeks.
Meanwhile, French hospitals are running out of intensive care beds, Germany may enlist the army to help contain its outbreak, and Spain has declared a state of emergency in the capital, Madrid, as coronavirus cases soar.
Globally, more than 36 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported, including more than 1 million deaths. Experts say the tally far underestimates the real number of cases. Ryan said this week that the WHO’s ‘‘best estimates’’ were that one in
10 people worldwide – roughly 760 million people – may have been infected.
■ Britain is back where it was in March as hospitals fill up with Covid-19 patients, the deputy chief medical officer has told MPs. Jonathan Van-Tam said intensive care units in northwest England could be full within three weeks.
Across the United Kingdom, 13,864 cases were reported yesterday, with 87 deaths, compared with 74 on March 19.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tomorrow make a
House of Commons statement setting out new restrictions under a ‘‘tiered’’ approach to how local Covid-19 situations will be treated. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said further restrictions in the city were inevitable, as it was at ‘‘a very serious tipping point’’.
In a change of policy, the British government has said it will pay two-thirds of the salaries of workers in companies that have to close as a result of the new restrictions widely expected to come into effect next week. Mass job losses are
expected in some sectors, such as pubs and restaurants in parts of northern England.
A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the US can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month.
Meanwhile, a growing, bipartisan chorus of lawmakers, experts and public health officials says the country is illprepared for a projected winter surge of Covid-19.
Dr Robert Kadlec said the administration ‘‘is accelerating production of safe and effective vaccines . . . to ensure delivery starting January 2021’’. Kadlec is the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) assistant secretary of preparedness and response.
HHS says a vaccine could be approved before the end of the year but will take time to distribute.
President Donald Trump has said at rallies, debates and press conferences that a vaccine could arrive within weeks.
A breakdown in the supply chain for critical medical equipment, including masks, gloves, gowns and ventilators, has hobbled the US response to Covid-19 and is probably a factor in the country’s death rate, which is higher per capita than almost every other country. Experts say those shortages could now extend to the syringes, needles and glass vials that are vital to a future nationwide vaccination programme.
Roughly nine months into the pandemic, healthcare workers and even the Government Accountability Office say there still isn’t enough protective equipment for frontline workers or adequate coordination from the federal government. Although there are emergency preparedness and response plans in place, their implementation has been inconsistent.
Michael Lu, dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s school of public health, said: ‘‘We weren’t ready for the pandemic. And we are still not ready.’’