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A nurse cares for a Covid-19 positive patient at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 4, 2020. – UMass Memorial Hospital had to convert one of its cardiac reduction units to a Covid-19 ICU due to the increase in patients. The United States recorded more than 210,000 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours on December 3, according to Johns Hopkins University, a historic record for the country since the start of the pandemic. (Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP)
PARIS, France – Infections from the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) topped 65 million on Friday, even as countries doubled down on restrictions and plans to roll out vaccines accelerated.
The World Health Organization warned against complacency and what it said was a mistaken belief that because vaccines are on the near horizon, the COVID-19 crisis is over.
“Vaccines are not equal to zero COVID,” WHO emergency director Michael Ryan told a virtual press conference, adding that not everyone will be able to receive it early next year.
Britain on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve a vaccine for general use, putting pressure on other countries to quickly follow suit.
Other nations are also moving forward with plans to implement the vaccines. The United States is expected to give the green light later this month.
Belgium, France and Spain have said that the coups would begin in January for the most vulnerable.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said progress in vaccines “encourages all of us and now we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
However, he expressed concern about the “growing perception that the pandemic is over” while in reality the virus is spreading rapidly in many areas, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers.
The United States is among the countries that posted all-time highs in daily deaths this week along with Italy, which is experiencing a dramatic resurgence after largely crushing its previous outbreak by imposing a strict lockdown in the spring.
The pandemic shows little sign of slowing down, with the daily death toll around the world in recent weeks reaching its highest rate since the virus emerged in China late last year.
It accelerated again in Latin America and the Caribbean with an 18 percent increase in infections in one week.
– No Christmas carols –
In a sign of the tough job ahead, California announced new statewide bans on nonessential gatherings and activities as hospitals in the nation’s most populous state face the overwhelming.
Other countries are already revealing restrictions for the end of the year holidays, with Switzerland banning Christmas carols on the streets and Madrid canceling most New Year’s events in the city center.
There has been public resistance to the restrictions, but Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed outrage on Friday after scientists advising his government on handling the COVID-19 pandemic received threats.
“People may disagree with our political choices or disagree with the advice (on the coronavirus)…. It’s okay to discuss the merits, ”Rutte said.
“But we will never accept intimidation and threats. They are completely unacceptable, ”he said after at least one expert was placed under police protection.
– Delayed recovery –
The increase in cases and restrictions once again slows down economies.
The latest data showed that the US economic recovery is stalling as hiring slowed and the ranks of the long-term unemployed increased to 3.9 million.
That may put more pressure on US lawmakers to break a bottleneck in talks about adopting a new stimulus program, as millions of people will lose unemployment benefits right after the Christmas holidays.
Southwest Airlines has warned it could lay off more than 6,800 workers in 2021 in what would be the airline’s first involuntary job cuts in its 50-year history.
And organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, which will take place a year later than planned, said on Friday that the postponement would inflate their already bloated budget by another $ 2.4 billion.
Meanwhile, Britain was on the defensive over its first global approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine after leading American infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci said its regulators had “rushed” approval.
Fauci later apologized, but British officials insisted that the approval process involved “robust clinical trials in line with international standards.”
– Build confidence in vaccines –
A growing number of leaders say they plan to get vaccinated in public to build trust.
US President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that he was willing to get vaccinated in public, following similar commitments from former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that he was also willing to be filmed getting vaccinated to promote public confidence.
Anti-vaccine sentiment has risen in recent years, which could hamper efforts to reach enough people to reduce the spread of the virus.
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