A woman is vaccinated in Richmond, California, on April 15th.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Over the past seven days, more people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 than any other week since the pandemic began, surpassing 5.2 million worldwide, and the worst outbreaks are accelerating in many ill-equipped countries. to deal with it.
The worrying trend, just days after the world surpassed 3 million deaths, comes as countries are deploying vaccines in an effort to control the virus. Johns Hopkins University data showing a 12% increase in infections a week earlier calls into question the disease hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
The weekly increase exceeded the previous high in mid-December. Although infection rates have fallen sharply in the United States and the United Kingdom, developing countries in the world, particularly India and Brazil, are taking on a growing number of cases.
Worrying signs
New infections around the world reach a historic record despite the launch of vaccines
Source: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg, from 9:00 HKT on April 19th
The global death toll is also picking up momentum. The death toll has risen over the past month and was about 82,000 the week ended April 18, an average of nearly 12,000 a day. That tops just over 60,000 for the week ended March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent nadir.
India and Brazil are the two main contributors to increasing cases worldwide – a race neither of them wants to win. Faced with a sudden rise in coronavirus infections, India it is once again home to the second largest outbreak in the world, beating Brazil after the latter overtook in March. Hospitals of Bombai a São Paulo is under increasing pressure as tickets continue to rise.
Residents are waiting in an observation area after receiving vaccines against Covid-19 in Richmond, California, on April 15th.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
To date, India and Brazil have administered equivalent doses to cover 4.5% and 8.3% of their populations, respectively, compared to 33% in the US and 32% in the UK, according to Bloomberg vaccine tracker.
Serious setbacks
But not only developing nations have experienced recent setbacks in their efforts to combat the pandemic. Rare cases of coagulation observed in people who have taken vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson i AstraZeneca Plc has fueled the vaccine skepticism facing governments around the world.
New variants of the virus have also led to an increase in infections. Brazil is where one of the most life-threatening coronavirus mutations, variant P.1, was identified in December. Studies suggest that these strains, along with variants that were first seen in South Africa and the UK, are more contagious.
(Add weekly mortality rates to the fourth paragraph)