Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, April 14. Summary: Over 500 million confirmed cases worldwide are still a public health emergency
The latest data from the World Health Organization shows that as of the 14th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crowns in the world has exceeded 500 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 6.19 million. Although the number of new confirmed cases and deaths globally has continued to decline recently, the WHO emphasized that the new crown pandemic is still a public health emergency of international concern, and advised countries to be prepared at any time.
According to data released by the WHO website, as of 20:36 CET on the 14th (2:36 Beijing time on the 15th), the number of confirmed cases of the new crown worldwide increased by 948,865 from the previous day, reaching 500,186,525; the number of deaths increased by 4,175 example, reaching 6,190,349 cases.
The data shows that the United States is still the country with the most confirmed and dead cases of the new crown so far, with more than 79.71 million confirmed cases and more than 979,000 deaths, both of which account for nearly 16% of the world. The countries with more cumulative confirmed cases of the new crown include India, Brazil, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, South Korea, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Vietnam. The cumulative number of confirmed new crown cases in these countries has exceeded 10 million.
Among the 6 major global regions divided by WHO, Europe and the Americas ranked the top two in terms of cumulative new crown confirmed cases and deaths. So far, they have reported more than 200 million and 150 million confirmed cases, respectively, with 196 deaths. More than 10,000 cases and more than 2.71 million cases. These two regions together account for more than 72% and 75% of the cumulative global confirmed cases and deaths, respectively.
According to the weekly report on the new crown epidemic released by the World Health Organization on the 12th of this month, the number of new confirmed and dead cases of new crowns in the world has continued to decline recently. However, the organization said on the 13th that the new crown pandemic is still a “public health emergency of international concern” and advised countries to be prepared at any time. If there is another surge in the number of cases that threatens the resources of the medical system, public health should be quickly strengthened. Responses.
The WHO’s COVID-19 Emergency Committee meets every three months to issue new advice to WHO and its Member States on the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the results of the meeting released on the 13th, the committee believed that the new crown pandemic continues to constitute a “public health emergency of international concern” and recommended that if the number of hospitalizations, intensive care and deaths due to the new crown epidemic increases, and affects health Countries should continue to implement evidence- and risk-based public health and social measures, such as wearing masks, home isolation, frequent handwashing, and improved indoor ventilation, and be prepared to rapidly intensify relevant measures based on changes in the virus and population immunity .
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reminded at a press conference on the 13th: “Severe surges of cases are still seen in some countries, which puts pressure on hospitals. As the number of new crown testing (the number) has decreased significantly, we are monitoring (the epidemic). The ability to trend is compromised.” WHO is calling on all countries to sequence at least 5% of SARS-CoV-2 samples to track how the virus mutates. He also suggested: “The best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated and inject booster shots as recommended; continue to wear masks, especially in crowded indoor spaces; indoor personnel should always open doors and windows for ventilation to ensure good ventilation.”
Tedros said the WHO is currently closely monitoring a number of Omicron subtype strains, including BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5, as well as recombinant strains of BA.1 and BA.2. The WHO previously said in a statement that scientists in Botswana and South Africa have recently detected new subtypes of the Omicron strain, labelled BA.4 and BA.5. But it remains unclear whether they are more transmissible or dangerous due to the limited number of samples and sequencing.
Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergency program, also said on the 13th that the WHO is very happy to see the recent decline in the number of deaths from the new crown, but it would be very difficult to think that a lower number of cases means an absolute low risk. short-sighted. “Coronavirus has caught us off guard before, so we need to trace the virus as much as possible,” the scientific and public health community needs to continue to closely track the virus in every country while people get back to life as normal as possible.
Regarding the future trend of the epidemic, Ryan believes that in essence, it is expected that the new coronavirus will continue to evolve, and people will see more mutant strains appear, but it is also expected that the severity and impact of the new coronavirus will continue to decrease because of vaccination. Coverage is on the rise, people have gained immunity from past infections or through vaccination, and there are many tools that can save people’s lives.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Qu