COVID-19

Global COVID-19 caseload approaches 300 mln, as Omicron spreads rapidly: WHO

Published

2 years ago

January 8, 2022

(Last Updated On: January 8, 2022)

The cumulative total of global COVID-19 cases surpassed 298 million, with the death toll exceeding 5.4 million as of Friday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Specifically, there had been 298,915,721 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,469,303 deaths as of 17:08 Central European Time (CET) on Friday, the WHO’s COVID-19 dashboard showed.

A total of 9,118,223,397 vaccine doses had been administered across the world as of Tuesday, according to the dashboard.

The United States on Friday reported a cumulative total of 57,535,858 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 826,022 deaths, both the highest in the world, the WHO dashboard showed.

WHO data also showed that India is the second worst-affected country, with 35,226,386 confirmed cases. It is followed by Brazil with 22,351,104 cases and the world’s second highest death toll of 619,513.

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, on Friday said that the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly and has been detected in any region where there is complete viral gene sequencing capability. In some countries and regions, Omicron is replacing Delta as the dominant variant of infection.

Britain reported another 178,250 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 14,193,228, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country also reported a further 229 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 149,744, with 18,454 COVID-19 patients still hospitalized.

Some 200 Armed Forces personnel are being deployed to support the National Health Service (NHS) in London as hospitals are grappling with staff shortages, according to Sky News.

More than 90 percent of people aged 12 and above in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 82 percent have received two doses, according to the latest figures. More than 61 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

France reported more than 328,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the latest 24-hour period, marking the second time that the country registered more than 300,000 new cases in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to statistics released on Friday by the French Public Health Agency.

Another 193 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported during the same period. As of Friday, France registered a total of 11.51 million confirmed cases and more than 125,000 deaths.

According to a Reuters report on Friday, Alain Fischer, who orchestrated France’s vaccination strategy, said that France is approaching the peak of the current round of pandemic, which could “appear in the beginning of the third week of January”.

Italy reported more than 108,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24-hour period, bringing the total caseload to over 7.08 million, said the Italian Ministry of Health on Friday.

The country reported a further 223 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the death toll to more than 138,000.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, the Federal Chancellery said, adding that he was infected by a member of his security team.

Nehammer shows no symptoms and carries out his official duties from home via video and telephone meetings. He will not attend in-person meetings in the next few days, the Chancellery said, adding that Nehammer has received three COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The country has seen a surge in new COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the new year. According to statistics from the Austrian Ministry of Health, the country reported more than 8,700 new cases on Friday, with a total caseload of more than 1.25 million and 13,830 deaths.

Austria has been enforcing a lockdown for the unvaccinated in an attempt to stem the surge of coronavirus.

The pandemic situation in Japan has deteriorated rapidly since the beginning of the new year. According to NHK statistics, the country reported 6,214 new confirmed cases on Friday, which is the first time that the country registers more than 6,000 new cases in a single day since Sept 15 last year.

Japan registered nearly 1.75 million confirmed cases and 18,399 deaths with one more death being reported on Friday.

On Friday, Tokyo reported 922 new cases, while Osaka Prefecture reported 676 new cases, both the highest in the last more than three months.

Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, on Friday announced that it would expand requirements for the application of the “vaccination passport” in response to the surge in confirmed case caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The municipal government of Sao Paulo started to enforce a “vaccination passport” policy on Sept 1, 2020, requiring local residents to present proof of receiving at least one dose of COIVD-19 vaccine when attending a public event involving more than 500 people.

The new regulations require that residents have to get vaccinated with at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccines to enter certain public places, and that they must show vaccination proof before attending parties or entering places such as dance halls and clubs, regardless of how many people attend the events.

The city on Thursday canceled Carnival street parades following an increase in infections and hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant.

Argentina reported 110,533 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24-hour period, the highest number ever recorded in the country in a single day, according to data released on Friday by the Ministry of Health. The country has recorded more than 100,000 new cases in a single day for two consecutive days.

As of Friday, Argentina registered a total of 6.13 million confirmed cases and over 117,000 deaths with 42 new deaths being reported during the past 24-hour period.

Experts said that the peak of the current round of pandemic in the country could come in mid-to-late January, with a possible maximum of 250,000 new cases being reported in a single day.

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COVID-19

WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency

Published

12 months ago

May 6, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: May 6, 2023)

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide.

The announcement, made more than three years after WHO declared the coronavirus an international crisis, offers some relief, if not an ending, to a pandemic that stirred fear and suspicion, hand-wringing and finger-pointing across the globe, AP reported.

The U.N. health agency’s officials said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t finished, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

WHO says thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week, and millions of others are suffering from debilitating, long-term effects.

“It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, warning that new variants could yet emerge. Tedros noted that while the official COVID-19 death toll was 7 million, the real figure was estimated to be at least 20 million.

Tedros said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a year, acknowledging that most countries have already returned to life before COVID-19.

He bemoaned the damage that COVID-19 had done to the global community, saying the pandemic had shattered businesses, exacerbated political divisions, led to the spread of misinformation and plunged millions into poverty.

When the U.N. health agency first declared the coronavirus to be an international crisis on Jan. 30, 2020, it hadn’t yet been named COVID-19 and there were no major outbreaks beyond China.

More than three years later, the virus has caused an estimated 764 million cases globally and about 5 billion people have received at least one dose of vaccine.

In the U.S., the public health emergency declaration made regarding COVID-19 is set to expire on May 11, when wide-ranging measures to support the pandemic response, including vaccine mandates, will end. Many other countries, including Germany, France and Britain, dropped most of their provisions against the pandemic last year.

When Tedros declared COVID-19 to be an emergency in 2020, he said his greatest fear was the virus’ potential to spread in countries with weak health systems.

Most recently, WHO has struggled to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, a challenging scientific endeavor that has also become politically fraught.

COVID-19

COVID-19 in Iran: Nearly 900 new cases, 24 deaths recorded

Published

1 year ago

March 27, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: March 27, 2023)

The Iranian health ministry announced on Sunday that more than 890 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified across the country during the past 24 hours, adding that 24 patients have died in the same period of time, Fars News Agency reported.

“A sum of 891 new patients infected with COVID-19 have been identified in the country based on confirmed diagnosis criteria during the past 24 hours,” the Iranian Health Ministry’s Public Relations Center said on Sunday, adding, “454 patients have been hospitalized during the same time span.”

The ministry’s public relations center said 611 people infected with COVID-19 are in critical condition.

COVID-19

China says 200 million treated, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten

Published

1 year ago

February 17, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: February 17, 2023)

China says more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November.

With 800,000 of the most critically ill patients having recovered, China has “decisively beaten” the pandemic, according to notes from a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by President and party leader Xi Jinping, AP reported.

China enforced some of the world’s most draconian lockdowns, quarantines and travel restrictions and still faces questions about the origins of the virus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. Heavy-handed enforcement prompted rare anti-government protests and took a heavy toll on the world’s second-largest economy.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying that policies to control the outbreak had been “entirely correct.” The abrupt lifting in November and December of the “zero COVID” policy that had sought to eliminate all cases of the virus led to a surge in infections that temporarily overwhelmed hospitals.

Case numbers have since peaked and life has largely returned to normal, although international travel in and out of China has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

China is now transitioning to a post-pandemic stage after a fight against the outbreak that was “extraordinary in the extreme,” Xinhua said.

The government will continue to “optimize and adjust prevention and control policies and measures according to the times and situations with a strong historical responsibility and strong strategic determination,” Xinhua said.