WHO: Global Covid deaths rise for 1st time in 6 weeks
GENEVA—A top World Health Organization expert on the coronavirus pandemic said on Monday the weekly global count of deaths from Covid-19 is rising again, a “worrying sign” after about six weeks of declines.
Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on Covid-19 at the UN health agency, said the growth followed a fifth straight week of confirmed cases increasing worldwide. She said the number of reported cases went up in four of the WHO’S six regions, though there were significant variations within each region.
“In the last week, cases have increased by 8 percent percent,” Van Kerkhove told reporters. “In Europe, that is 12 percent—and that’s driven by several countries.”
The increase is due in part to the spread of a variant that first emerged in Britain and is now circulating in many other places, including Eastern Europe, she said.
Southeast Asia registered a 49 percent week-to-week jump in confirmed cases, while WHO’S Western Pacific region reported a 29 percent rise largely fueled by the Philippines, Van Kerkhove said. The eastern Mediterranean region saw cases rise 8 percent percent, while the number of cases reported in the Americas and Africa declined.
“I do want to mention that it had been about six weeks where we were seeing decreases in deaths,” said Van Kerkhove. “And in the last week, we’ve started to see a slight increase in deaths across the world, and this is to be expected if we are to see increasing cases. But this is also a worrying sign.”
WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan acknowledged an urge among the public in many places to emerge from pandemic restrictions. Ryan insisted that any easing should coincide with measures such as strict case surveillance and high levels of vaccination, but said vaccines alone would not be enough.
“I’m afraid we’re all trying to grasp at straws. We’re trying to find the golden solution: ‘So we just get enough vaccine and we push enough vaccine to people and that’s going to take care of it,’” he said. “I’m sorry, it’s not.”
Greece orders private doctors to join Covid battle
MEANWHILE, Greece’s health minister is requisitioning the services of private sector doctors from certain specialties in the wider Athens region to help fight a renewed surge in coronavirus infections that is straining hospitals to their limits.
In an announcement released Monday, Vassilis Kikilias said that despite repeated appeals for private doctors to volunteer to help in the public sector, very few came forward. Therefore, the minister said, he was ordering specialists in pathology, pneumonology and general medicine to help.
Kikilias had said Friday he would requisition private sector doctors unless at least 200 volunteered within 48 hours. Government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni said Monday that only 61 doctors had stepped forward voluntarily.
“It was the last measure, if you will, in the context of the emergency plan prepared by the Health Ministry, and it was decided that it was now necessary to mobilize private doctors as part of this great struggle, this national effort, after all the opportunities for voluntary participation were exhausted,” Peloni said.
The requisition order is for one month for 206 doctors, health authorities said.
Greece has been experiencing a renewed surge of Covid-19 despite lockdown-related measures being in force since early November, with dozens of daily deaths recorded, as well as increasing numbers of patients hospitalized in intensive care units. About 500 people are hospitalized each day across the country with covid-19,health authorities say, with 200 of them being in the wider Athens region.
On Monday, Greece reported 1,707 new coronavirus infections and 69 more deaths, bringing the total confirmed infections in the country of around 10.5 million people to just under 240,000 and the death toll to 7,531.
Despite the rising numbers, authorities have announced a slight relaxation of lockdown measures, with hairdressers, nail salons and open-air archaeological sites reopening as of Monday. Amateur fishing, which had also been banned, is also being allowed for those living in coastal areas, as access to the sea is allowed only on foot or bicycle.
Authorities said Monday that close to 1.5 million doses of the vaccine have been administered so far in the country, with nearly 1 million people receiving at least one jab.