The global plateau of Covid-19 cases after an increase of almost two months, according to the WHO

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The WHO reported more than 4.5 million new cases and 68,000 new deaths worldwide last week, just a slight increase from the more than 4.4 million cases and 66,000 deaths reported the previous week.

The cumulative global turnover now stands at more than 211 million, and the total number of deaths exceeds 4.4 million, according to the WHO’s weekly epidemiological update.

It now appears that the number of new global cases is stable, after rising since mid-June, the WHO noted in the report.

According to the WHO, the world had previously been affected by global cases in May, but outbreaks caused in part by the highly transmissible variant of the Delta have led to an increase in cases in many countries in the past two months.

The United States recorded the highest number of new cases last week (1.02 million, 15% more than the previous week), followed by Iran, India, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

The Western Pacific and the Americas recorded the largest increase in cases last week: 20% and 8% respectively. Southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean reported a decline in infections, while other regions saw stagnant cases, according to the WHO.

The increase in cases in the western Pacific region was partly motivated by the expansion of the Delta outbreak in Australia. Over the past week, the number of single-day cases in the country has repeatedly reached highs, surpassing its previous record of August last year.

Infections are also on the rise in New Zealand, although the country imposed a national shutdown after confirming last week only one case of locally transmitted coronavirus. On Wednesday, it reported 62 new cases, bringing the total number of cases of the ongoing outbreak to 210.

The Australian Prime Minister hints at the end of the

In recent days, officials in both Australia and New Zealand have suggested a change of approach to treating Covid-19, from trying to eradicate the virus to learning to live with it.

In an opinion piece published Sunday in the Australian media, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinted at the end of the country’s zero Covid-19 restrictions, saying the blockades “are sadly necessary for now”, but “will not be needed for too long”. He said the Australian government intended to change its approach from reducing the number of cases to examining how many people were severely ill with Covid-19 and in need of hospitalization.

On Monday, New Zealand’s Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins told public broadcaster TVNZ that the Delta variant has raised questions about the long-term viability of the country’s coronavirus elimination strategy.

“It means that all of our existing protections are starting to seem less adequate and less robust. As a result, we’re looking very closely at what we can do more about. But it raises very big questions about the future of our plans,” he said. to say.

In its weekly report, the WHO noted that the emergence of worrying variants of Covid-19, including the highly transmissible Delta variant, has highlighted the need to increase vaccination, as well as the importance of maintaining public and social health.

He cited a modeling study in England that shows that a delay in lifting these safety measures reduced almost threefold of daily hospitalizations.

“Relaxation of public health and social measures must therefore be carefully and cautiously balanced against levels of vaccination coverage and the circulation of variants of concern,” the WHO wrote.

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