The coronavirus pandemic celebrates a year with more than 2.6 million deaths



[ad_1]

The coronavirus pandemic celebrates a year with more than 2.6 million deaths

Nurse prepares injection of Pfizer vaccine against covid-19 on March 10, 2021 in Los Angeles – AFP

Exactly one year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified covid-19 as a pandemic, concerned about “alarming levels of spread.” After months of chaos and efforts, countries have organized to tackle the disease, but the response remains uneven across regions.

To date, the virus has killed at least 2,613,983 people worldwide and more than 117.6 million cases have been reported, according to an AFP report.

The worst affected country with more than half a million deaths, the United States accelerates vaccination. A $ 1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan was approved Wednesday, a “historic victory” for President Joe Biden and a breath of air that inflates optimism.

Almost $ 15 billion will be spent on vaccination, $ 50 billion on contact testing and monitoring, and another $ 10 billion on vaccine production.

More than 93 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the country, making enough requests to receive by the end of May the amount needed to vaccinate all Americans.

Despite the news, Biden asked to negotiate a $ 100 million additional dose contract with Johnson & Johnson.

The daily death toll dropped to an average of 1,600 in the past week, from 2,000 in the previous weeks.

– “2021 will be very difficult” –

The situation is much more complicated in Brazil, which appears to be in a deepening crisis. On Wednesday, the country again broke the record for deaths in 24 hours (2,286).

“We are at the worst moment of the pandemic in Brazil, the transmission rate with the variants makes the epidemic even more serious. The year 2021 will be even more difficult, ”Fiocruz pulmonologist Margareth Dalholm told AFP.

“We are concerned about the situation in Brazil. This is a strong reminder of the threat of a new resurgence, since the areas severely affected by the virus continue to be very vulnerable to infections, ”said the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.

Vaccination began late in the country, which has already registered 270,656 deaths from covid-19. President Jair Bolsonaro minimizes the pandemic and opposes closing commercial establishments to, according to him, preserve jobs.

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva harshly criticized the current government.

“Do not follow any stupid decision of the President of the Republic or the Ministry of Health. Get a vaccine,” Lula said Wednesday, announcing that he himself expected to be vaccinated next week.

Brazil and Mexico account for two-thirds of deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that has a combined balance of 703,922 deaths and 22,260,740 cases, according to updated AFP figures.

– Hungry children, isolated –

In one year, the pandemic has also caused a setback in all the indicators that measure the development of children and adolescents in the world, warns the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

“The number of hungry, isolated, abused and anxious children living in poverty and forced to marry has increased,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“Access to education, socialization and essential services, including health, nutrition and protection, has decreased. The signs that children will bear the scars of the pandemic in the coming years are unmistakable, “he added.

Between six and seven million more children may have suffered from malnutrition in 2020, an increase of 14% that can translate into more than 10,000 additional deaths per month, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

In addition, the coronavirus also led to the suspension of vaccination campaigns against other diseases, such as measles, in 26 countries, increasing threats to the health of the unimmunized.

Fore called for children to be at the “center of recovery efforts,” with “priority” for reopening schools and social protection for families, including with cash transfers, to avoid “a lost generation.”

– Life expectancy –

In Europe, several points of concern persist, such as the Tyrol region in Austria, Nice and Moselle in France, Bolzano in Italy, and areas of Bavaria and Saxony in Germany.

France will transfer patients from some regions to relieve hospitals that are full, especially in the Paris region.

Poland is also concerned about a new record of infections that the authorities attribute to the “increasing relaxation” of the population and the spread of the English variant.

In Italy, life expectancy has been reduced by almost a year, to 82.3 years, due to the pandemic, according to official statistics.

A study published Wednesday estimates that the British variant is 64% more lethal.

For every 1,000 cases detected, the British variant causes 4.1 deaths, compared to 2.5 for the original coronavirus, conclude the authors of the study published in the medical journal BMJ.

see also

+ 10 years ago Caetano parked in Leblon, and it’s my fault!
+ Study reveals the healthiest method of cooking rice

+ Sex: find out which is the best position according to your sign

+ Scientists discover a new layer inside the Earth
+ Learn 5 Easy Sauces to Enjoy Assorted Noodles
+ Tubarão is captured in MA with remains of missing youths in his stomach
+ Video: step by step how to make an Easter egg
+ Learn how to prepare delicious spaghetti carbonara

+ Scientists unravel the mystery of Siberia’s giant craters
+ 5 benefits of intermittent fasting besides losing weight
+ How to make your hair grow faster

+ A new Antarctic megaiceberg is coming
+ The trick to squeeze lemons becomes crazy on social networks
+ Cinema, sex and the city
+ Can burping a lot be a health problem?



[ad_2]