Surging Covid Cases: India leads global tally
India reported the most new Covid-19 cases of any country in the past week, its nearly half a million fresh infections pushing the global tally up by 1 percent, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday.
Overall global new deaths in the past seven days fell by 3% compared to the previous week, the WHO reported, adding that overall new infections around the world rose by 1.8 million.
The respiratory disease is also spreading in the Americas, which continues to account for more than half of reported cases and deaths worldwide, although there have been slight decreases in some areas, WHO said in its latest update.
Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina have seen "increasing trends", it said.
Spain, Russia, France, and Ukraine reported the highest number of new cases in Europe in the week to August 30, with a resurgence in Spain matching peaks seen last March and April, the UN agency said. New cases in Italy jumped by 85%, it said.
"South-East Asia has reported the largest week-on-week increase, largely due to increased case detections in India," the WHO said. "India has reported nearly 500,000 new cases in the past seven days, a 9% increase compared to the previous seven days and the highest numbers of new cases globally."
In Africa, cases in Ethiopia reached "new highs", while South Africa - which has the fifth most infections globally and the highest number on the vast continent - has continued a downward trend, it said.
Several previous hotspots - including Ghana, Kenya, Gabon and Madagascar - have recorded fewer new cases, the WHO said, adding: "...the figures should be interpreted cautiously as they may be affected by many factors, including the current testing capacity and strategy, and delays in reporting."
Rates have fluctuated in the WHO's eastern Mediterranean region, with the latest highest case numbers seen in Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, it said.
MILLIONS BACK AT SCHOOL
More than 25.44 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally since it emerged in China late last year and more than 851,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Millions of mask-wearing European children headed back to school yesterday after summer holidays despite rising numbers of infections, as Hong Kong rolled out a mass coronavirus testing programme.
Schools reopened in Russia, Ukraine, Belgium and France, where teachers and their pupils aged 11 and older were obliged to wear face coverings, echoing regulations in place across the continent.
Russia's 17 million school children returned to class as the country confirmed it had passed one million infections -- still well behind the tally in the United States, now higher than six million.
The Chinese city at the centre of the initial outbreak, Wuhan, took another leap back to normality yesterday when its almost 1.4 million youngsters also returned to schools and kindergartens.
State media broadcast images of thousands of students hoisting the Chinese flag -- a daily routine at all public schools -- despite warnings to avoid mass gatherings.
European countries have faced an upsurge in cases in recent weeks after successfully suppressing the numbers, a similar story to Hong Kong where three-quarters of cases have been detected within the past two months.
However, Hong Kong's attempts to roll out a mass testing scheme have been hampered by distrust of officials following China's crushing of the city's democracy movement.
Doctors and testing firms from mainland China are involved in the programme, fuelling public fears that their DNA and data will be harvested to create a system of control underpinned by biometrics.
VACCINE ACCESS PLAN
The European Commission said Monday it would participate in the World Health Organization mechanism to facilitate poor countries' access to coronavirus vaccines, offering 400 million euros ($477 million) in guarantees.
Last month, the WHO sent a letter to its 194 member countries with a request to join the programme, called COVAX, aimed at providing global access to an eventual Covid-19 vaccine.
The aim is to encourage laboratories to manufacture sufficient quantities of vaccines and make sure they are available for developing countries, reports AFP.
"The Commission announces a contribution of 400 million euros to COVAX to help purchase future vaccines for low- and middle-income countries," said Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive.
The move came after the Commission last week signed a first contract with the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to enable the purchase of a vaccine on behalf of the EU's 27 member states.
"Big thanks to the @EU_Commission for their contribution to the COVAX facility and for standing firm on their commitment to multilateralism," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.
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