New global covid cases stabilize, but skyrocket in Africa
Covid cases amounted to 4.1 million last week in the world, a slight increase of 2% compared to the previous seven days, although in Africa, the first continent where the omicron variant was detected, infections rose by 79 %. The weekly epidemiological report of the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the African continent is the region with the fastest increase in cases, although in absolute terms it is still the place with the least infections (79,000, just 2% of the total) .
Two thirds of the new infections were still registered in Europe (2.6 million), which has become the epicenter of the pandemic in recent weeks, although the cases decreased in the period studied by a% compared to the previous week. In America there was a notable rise of 21% in positives (935,000), while in East and South Asia the positives fell 10% and exceeded 200,000, according to WHO data.
By country, the United States once again registered the highest absolute number of new cases (752,000, an increase of 30% compared to the previous week), followed by Germany with 396,000 and the United Kingdom with 310,000, figures in the latter two similar cases to those of the previous week. Fourth, France added 283,000 new cases and a worrying 49% increase over the previous week’s figures.
The deaths last week from the pandemic were 52,000, an increase of 10%, and more than half (28,000) were registered in Europe, where deaths fell 2% compared to the previous seven days. In America there was a sharp rise of 38% in deaths, which totaled 12,900.
Despite the global alarm for the omicron variant, the report indicates that 99% of the cases analyzed in the last 60 days are still delta, and only 0.1% belong to the new variant, although their numbers continue to rise. The vaccines administered in the world amount to 8.280 million, with which 55% of the global population has received at least one dose, although in low-income countries that percentage is only 6.3%. (Agencies)
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