Paramedics removed a patient from an ambulance outside the emergency department of Royal London Hospital in London, England, on January 26, 2021.
David Cliff | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Most regions of the world are seeing new cases of Covid-19 increase as highly contagious variants continue to spread, the World Health Organization said Monday.
New cases worldwide rose 8% in the last week, the fifth consecutive week the WHO has increased transmission, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s technical manager for Covid, told reporters -19.
Cases in Europe, where the highly contagious variant B.1.1.7 is spreading rapidly, increased by 12%, Kerkhove said. The WHO has also seen a 49% increase in cases in the Southeast Asian region, 8% in the East The Mediterranean region and a 29% increase in the western Pacific region, driven by an increase in infections in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, he said.
The Americas and Africa experienced a “slight decline,” Kerkhove said, but added that the number of cases in general is “worrying.”
“There is pressure to open up in many of these countries and there are difficulties for individuals, individuals and communities to comply with the proven control measures,” he said, adding that there has been a “slight “increase” in deaths worldwide. “We are also seeing that the distribution of vaccination is uneven and uneven.”
WHO comments come as public health officials around the world worry that reopening too quickly amid an increase in new highly contagious variants could reverse the progress of the global pandemic. Some countries, including the United States, have seen new cases of Covid-19 increase, even as millions of citizens are vaccinated every day.
Approximately 82.7 million Americans have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and more than 44.9 million are fully vaccinated, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, the seven-day average of new cases rose 5% or more in 27 states as of Sunday, according to a CNBC data analysis compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation recorded an average of 54,308 new cases a day over the past week, a 1% increase over the previous week after months of rapid decline in the number of cases, according to Hopkins data.
Earlier Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the state would likely pause its reopening plans as Covid-19 cases begin to escalate there.
Also Monday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged all Americans to stay “alert” as officials compete to vaccinate most Americans.
“We are at a critical point in this pandemic,” Walensky said during a White House briefing. “I’m worried that if we don’t do the right actions we will now have another avoidable rise as we are seeing in Europe right now.”
Kerkhove urged the public to continue practicing safety measures, including social distances, wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding crowded spaces. He also urged world leaders to prioritize vaccination of those most at risk.
“There’s still a lot more we can do at the individual level, at the community level, as government leaders,” he said.