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The global number of deaths from Covid-19 has exceeded 2 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than a quarter of deaths occur in the US and Brazil alone.
The two countries top the list of the most affected countries in the world with almost 370,000 deaths registered in the United States and just over 207,000 in Brazil, where a new variant of the coronavirus has recently emerged.
The grim milestone came as countries around the world grapple with rising infections, despite the gradual rollout of vaccination campaigns.
In total, more than 93,500,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide since the start of the pandemic.
Today, the World Health Organization’s emergency committee urged countries to take steps to ensure safe travel during the pandemic, but not to require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for arriving travelers.
The WHO made the appeal during its sixth meeting on Covid-19 that took place this afternoon.
“Since the impact of vaccines on reducing transmission is still unknown, and the current availability of vaccines is too limited, the committee recommended that countries not require proof of vaccination from incoming travelers,” WHO said.
WHO Executive Director Dr Mike Ryan added that the guidance for travel during the pandemic could change over time as efforts are made to protect travel space and ensure economies are not completely isolated.
“It is very difficult to legislate risk management globally that covers all types of travel because circumstances change,” Ryan said at a virtual briefing in Geneva.
The emergency committee also called for improved coronavirus sequencing studies globally to combat the worrying new variants, and for Covid jabs to be available globally in the next three months.
Since newly discovered variants can only be identified by sequencing their genetic code, an analysis not possible everywhere, the WHO EC called for a global expansion of genomic sequencing and data sharing, along with increased scientific collaboration to address critical unknowns.
The WHO director general also said that he wanted vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 to be carried out in all countries of the world in the next 100 days.
“I want to see vaccination in all countries in the next 100 days so that health workers and people at high risk are protected first,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.
Coronavirus cases in Europe exceed 30 million
Meanwhile, more than 30 million coronavirus cases have been officially recorded in Europe, according to an AFP tally based on official health statistics.
The 52 nations, which include Russia, constitute the most affected area in the world in terms of the number of infections, followed by the United States and Canada with 23,994,507 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean with 16,989,628 and Asia with 14,485,588 .
Europe became on December 17 the first region in the world to exceed half a million deaths.
The most affected countries in Europe were Russia with 3,520,531 cases and 64,495 deaths, Great Britain with 3,260,258 infections and 86,015 deaths, France (2,851,670 and 69,313) Turkey (2,364,801 and 23,495), Italy (2,336,279) and 80,848) and Spain (2,211,967 and 53,079).
Europe and North America are the regions with the highest number of daily cases.
Last week, each of these two regions recorded an average of around 260,000 new cases per day.
The total number of new cases globally was around 730,000 per day.
Among countries with a rapidly increasing number of cases, Spain experienced a 168% jump in the last seven days compared to the previous week, with 193,545 new cases. Portugal followed, where the toll increased 49% to 60,502 and Belgium, 29% to 14,587.
In total, more than 92 million cases of the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide, including nearly 2 million deaths, since the pandemic began in China in late 2019.
Germany approved two million coronavirus cases today as an emergency committee of the World Health Organization prepared to issue advice on how to stop the spread of newer and more contagious strains of the disease.
The surge in Europe’s largest economy came as the continent’s countries tightened restrictions again, with Portugal entering a new lockdown and Britain requiring negative tests for entry.
Despite the launch of the vaccines, India’s gigantic program will begin tomorrow, many nations are redoubling their efforts to stop a pandemic that has now claimed nearly two million lives.
New restrictions on populations from Brazil to Lebanon were announced, and Mexico has endured the deadliest week of the pandemic yet.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed yesterday for a “significant” tightening of restrictions to reduce the infection rate, as the country added more than 22,000 new cases.
The foreign minister said she wanted to advance crisis talks with regional leaders for next week, participants at a meeting of her center-right CDU party told AFP.
They quoted her as saying that the virus could only be stopped with “significant additional measures” and that people urgently needed to reduce social contact.
At the Meissen crematorium, in the state of Saxony, coffins were stacked up to three high or even stored in aisles awaiting cremation. The eastern region has been one of the worst affected areas in Germany in recent weeks.
Scientists say large-scale vaccination is the only way out of the crisis, but 95% of the doses administered so far have been limited to just 10 countries, the European branch of the WHO said.
Progress in administering vaccines has often been slow, as in the United States, where about 10 million people have received a first injection, even as 4,000 people die from the virus every day.
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A WHO-led team investigating the origins of Covid-19 will begin virtual meetings with their Chinese hosts from a hotel in Wuhan, where the pandemic was first detected.
His arrival in the city in central China yesterday was interrupted by the absence of two members who did not pass the coronavirus antibody tests in Singapore.
One of the missing members passed a test and his trip to China is being organized, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“The team is now undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine and our hosts treat them very well,” tweeted team member zoologist Peter Daszak.
Finally here in Wuhan! The team is now undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine and is treated very well by our hosts. Work begins today, day 1, in teleconf. mtgs with the China team. https://t.co/gi7Mjr1iBf
– Peter Daszak (@PeterDaszak) January 15, 2021
The team’s arrival in Wuhan came as China is on alert for a resurgence of Covid-19 infections in the northeast.
The United States, which accused China of concealing the scope of its initial outbreak a year ago, called for a “transparent” investigation led by the WHO and criticized the terms of the visit, under which Chinese experts have conducted the first phase. Of the investigation. .
‘Anything can happen’ with the Tokyo Olympics: Japan minister
A Japanese cabinet minister admitted that “anything can happen” with the Tokyo Olympics postponed by the coronavirus, becoming the first senior official to admit uncertainty about the Games.
Taro Kono is the first cabinet minister to back away from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s insistence that Japan is on track to hold a “safe and secure” Games, despite the fact that the state of emergency was extended this week to cover a total of 11 regions, including Osaka and Kyoto.
“Given the coronavirus situation, anything can happen,” the high-profile former defense and foreign minister told a news conference.
“The organizing committee and the IOC must, of course, be thinking about backup plans. The government is firmly preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Public support for the Olympics has plummeted in Japan, and a recent poll found that more than 80% of respondents believe the Games should be canceled or postponed again.
Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said in a speech Tuesday that another postponement was “absolutely impossible,” according to local media.
Mori also said that Japan will decide in the coming months whether to allow foreign fans to enter the Games, saying: “We will have to make a very difficult decision from February to March.”
South Africa delays the start of school until mid-February
South Africa has delayed the start of its new school year by two weeks to February 15 to prevent schools from becoming transmission hubs for Covid-19, with new cases hovering around 20,000 per day for the past week.
South Africa has reported more than 35,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest in Africa.
Like many other things in South Africa, education remains divided between the top 10% of schools that have world-class facilities and teaching for the rich and the poor majority.
Many of the latter were built under apartheid in predominantly black neighborhoods and rural areas, and suffer from overcrowding and poor Internet access.
For most of them, school simply stops when students cannot get to class.
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