Infections worldwide by coronavirus increased 70% last week, an unprecedented rate, and deaths dropped 10%, shows the weekly epidemiological bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Between December 27 and January 2, there were 9.5 million confirmed infections worldwide, a number that almost doubles the previous weekly records, and 41,000 deaths. It is the fourth consecutive week of decrease in deaths.
Europe, which was once again the epicenter of the covid-19 pandemic due to the more transmissible Ômicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, concentrated more than half of the cases (5.3 million) and deaths (22 thousand) worldwide.
According to the director general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “the greatest number of cases reported so far occurred in the last week” and, even so, it may be underestimated.
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The increase in new cases was around 100% in America and 65% in Europe. Covid-19 deaths dropped by 18% and 6% in the two regions, respectively.
If the rate of infections in Europe, which totals 103 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, is maintained, the continent will surpass America (104 million) in the number of confirmed cases.
According to the WHO, deaths fell 7% last week in South Asia, but new infections increased 78%.
In Africa, where the Ômicron variant was first detected, infections rose by only 7%, the lowest percentage, but deaths rose by 22%.
On this continent, the majority of the population remains unvaccinated – circulating covid-19 vaccines prevent serious illness and death, but they do not prevent infection and transmission of the virus.
The WHO bulletin also shows that more than 9.3 billion doses of vaccines were administered against covid-19, which allowed to immunize 59% of the world population with at least one dose. In the poorest countries, mostly in Africa, this rate drops to 8.8%.
The weekly report does not record data on the presence of different coronavirus variants in new infections, but in several countries, Ômicron is already dominant.
covid-19 has caused more than 5.4 million deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 19,05 thousand people have died and were counted 1.53 million cases of infection, according to updated data from the General Directorate of Health.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected two years ago in Wuhan, a city in central China, and which has spread rapidly around the world.
Currently, according to the WHO classification, there are five variants of concern for SARS-CoV-2, with the most recent Ômicron being the most contagious.
Despite its high transmission capacity, this variant is less malignant compared to its predecessor Delta. In most cases, it has been asymptomatic or has caused mild symptoms.
The director-general of WHO warned of the risk of devaluing Ômicron, saying that although the variant is less severe, especially among vaccinated people, “this does not mean that it can be classified as mild”.