Paramedics drop a patient out of an ambulance on 26 January 2021 outside the emergency department of the Royal London Hospital in London, England.
David Cliff | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Most regions of the world are seeing an increase in new Covid-19 cases as many infectious variants continue to spread, the World Health Organization said Monday.
New cases worldwide have increased by 8% in the past week, the fifth week in a row that the WHO has an increase in the distribution, dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical leader of the agency for Covid-19, told reporters during a press briefing.
The cases in Europe, where the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant spreads rapidly, increased by 12%, Kerkhove said. The WHO also saw a 49% increase in cases in the Southeast Asia region, an 8% increase 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, she said.
The Americas and Africa saw a ‘slight decline’, Kerkhove said, but added that the numbers were generally ‘worrying’.
“There is pressure to open up in many of these countries and there are problems among individuals and individuals and communities to comply with proven controls,” she said, adding that there was a ‘slight increase’ in deaths around the world. . “We also see that the distribution of vaccines is unequal and unequal.”
The WHO’s comments come as public health officials around the world become concerned that reopening too soon amid the emergence of new, highly contagious variants could stem the progress of the global pandemic. Some countries, including the United States, have seen an increase in new Covid-19 cases, even though they have vaccinated millions of residents every day.
About 82.7 million Americans received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and more than 44.9 million were fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data, the seven-day average of new cases rose by 5% or more in 27 states on Sunday in 27 states. The country recorded an average of 54,308 new cases per day in the past week – a 1% increase from the previous week after months of rapidly declining case numbers, according to the Hopkins data.
Earlier Monday, New Jersey government Phil Murphy said the state was likely to interrupt its reopening plans as Covid-19 cases begin to escalate there again.
Also CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, on Monday called on all Americans to remain “vigilant” while officials vaccinate most Americans.
“We are at a critical point in this pandemic,” Walensky said in a White House newsletter. “I am concerned that if we do not take the right action now, we will have a new inevitable boom just as we currently see in Europe.”
Kerkhove urged the public to continue to practice safety measures, including social distance, wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding crowded places. She also urged world leaders to give priority to vaccinating individuals who are most at risk.
“There is much more we can do at the individual level, at the community level, as leaders in government,” she said.