WHO says global case decline affected by drop in testing, deaths still alarmingly high
Newly reported coronavirus cases are dropping worldwide, but World Health Organization officials urged caution Wednesday, saying that a drop in testing might be contributing to that decline and that covid deaths remain alarmingly high.
During the week starting Feb. 7, health officials reported 16.3 million new infections globally, an 18.2 percent drop from the previous week, according to WHO figures. Deaths inched higher in the same period, though, to above 73,000, an increase of 0.5 percent from the previous week.
“It’s the sixth week in a row that we’re seeing increasing reports of deaths,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, at a live-streamed event. “At this point in the pandemic, when we have tools that can save people’s lives, this is far, far too many.”
Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, urged people to get vaccinated, and to keep up preventive measures such as masking, isolating or quarantining. “This idea that we’re just going to abandon everything, I think is a very premature concept in many countries right now,” he said.
Here’s what to know
Newly reported coronavirus cases are dropping worldwide, but World Health Organization officials urged caution Wednesday, saying that a drop in testing might be contributing to that decline and that covid deaths remain alarmingly high.
During the week starting Feb. 7, health officials reported 16.3 million new infections globally, an 18.2 percent drop from the previous week, according to WHO figures. Deaths inched higher in the same period, though, to above 73,000, an increase of 0.5 percent from the previous week.
“It’s the sixth week in a row that we’re seeing increasing reports of deaths,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, at a live-streamed event. “At this point in the pandemic, when we have tools that can save people’s lives, this is far, far too many.”
Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, urged people to get vaccinated, and to keep up preventive measures such as masking, isolating or quarantining. “This idea that we’re just going to abandon everything, I think is a very premature concept in many countries right now,” he said.
Here’s what to know
- The United States has recorded more than 1 million “excess deaths” associated with covid since the start of the pandemic, a toll that exceeds the officially documented lethality of the coronavirus and captures the broad consequences of the health crisis.
- The Biden administration will “surge” more than $250 million in coronavirus vaccine assistance to 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as it ramps up efforts to help vaccinate the world.
- Hong Kong is being swamped by an avalanche of new cases after poor planning, lagging vaccinations and the failure of its “zero-covid” policy left the city vulnerable.
- Israel and European countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland are dropping some travel restrictions and coronavirus vaccination and masking requirements.
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