(Eagle News) — More than 3 million people have died due to COVID-19, as more infectious variants of the virus swept countries across the globe with total cases as of Saturday night, April 17, (Philippine time) breaching 140 million.
The United States still leads countries with the most cases and deaths. Total cases in the US reached over 31.5 million, and total deaths at over 566,000. US is followed by India in terms of number of cases at more than 14.5 million, followed by Brazil with 13.8 million cases, France with 5.2 million cases, and Russia with over 4.6 million cases.
After US, Brazil follows as the country with the second most number of COVID-19 deaths at over 368,000. followed by Mexico with over 211,000 deaths, India with over 175,000 deaths, and UK with over 127,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s virus dashboard Saturday.
-Cases, deaths increase despite vaccination campaign-
COVID-19 numbers and deaths continued to increase despite a global vaccination campaign. WIth highly infectious variants of the COVID-19 virus still spreading in countries and infecting more people, many countries deal with a third wave of the infections forcing many to again go on lockdown, crippling the economy.
India, for example, imposed new lockdowns to stem another surge in cases.
According to an Agence France Presse tally, an average of more than 12,000 deaths were recorded globally every day in the past week.
In India, New Delhi alone reported a record number 24,000 COVID-19 cases in one day.
For comparison, three million people is more than the population of Jamaica or Armenia, and three times the death toll of the Iran-Iraq war which raged from 1980-1988.
And the pandemic is showing no sign of slowing down: the 829,596 new infections reported worldwide on Friday is the highest number yet, according to AFP’s tally.
The daily average of 731,000 cases registered over the last week is also close to being a record.
-New lockdowns-
India’s capital New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown Saturday as the world’s second-most populous nation recorded 234,000 new cases and 1,341 deaths.
India now has three times the daily cases of the United States, the world’s worst-hit nation, and families are clamouring for drugs and hospital beds.
Hopes that South Asian countries might have seen the worst of the pandemic have been dashed, with India recording over two million new cases this month alone and Bangladesh and Pakistan imposing new shutdowns.
Udaya Regmi of the international Red Cross said the “truly frightening” South Asian surge was a “wake-up call to the world”.
“Vaccines must be available to everyone, everywhere, rich and poor to overcome this terrible pandemic,” Regmi added.
Richer countries that have waged mass inoculation efforts have seen their virus numbers plummet. Britain, which has given 60 percent of the population at least one vaccination dose, now records around 30 deaths a day — down from 1,200 in late January.
– Olympic fears –
Thailand recorded its fourth consecutive day of more than 1,000 new cases on Saturday, with spiralling infections linked to a nightlife district of the capital Bangkok earlier this month.
Alcohol sales will be banned in Bangkok restaurants from Sunday, while entertainment venues will be shuttered across the country for two weeks.
In Japan, rising virus cases have stoked speculation that the Olympic Games — postponed last year due to the pandemic — could be cancelled.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, in his first meeting with US President Joe Biden, said his government was listening to experts and doing its “utmost” to prepare for the Tokyo games in July.
The virus continues to impact events elsewhere in the world. On Saturday, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II bids a final farewell to her late husband, Prince Philip, at a funeral restricted by coronavirus and likely watched by millions from afar. The public has been asked to stay away because of the pandemic.
In Brazil, the country with the third-highest death toll in the world, night shifts have been added to several cemeteries as diggers work around the clock to bury the dead.
One of these is Vila Formosa, the largest cemetery in Latin America and a showcase for the lethal cost of the pandemic in Brazil, where more than 365,000 people have died from Covid-19.
“We try not to get upset in our work, but it is sad, it is a lot of people,” one of the gravediggers there said after a long shift.
Despite the high infection rate, the government of Brazil’s most populous state Sao Paulo announced it will allow businesses and places of worship to reopen from Sunday.
– ‘Cautious optimism’ in Europe –
But there was better news in Europe, where some countries are easing their lockdowns in response to not only fatigue, but falling infection numbers and progress with vaccinations.
Italy announced Friday it will ease coronavirus restrictions for schools and restaurants from April 26.
Expressing “cautious optimism”, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said his government was taking a “calculated risk”.
Italy will also allow up to a thousand spectators at outdoor events from May 1, when it eases its stadium fan ban in regions less affected by the coronavirus.
In more good news for Britons after the partial reopening of society this week, Germany on Friday removed the United Kingdom from the list of risk zones for coronavirus infections, meaning that travellers will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival.
Spain meanwhile extended the mandatory quarantine of passengers arriving from 12 countries in South America and Africa, including Brazil and South Africa, over concerns about more transmissible variants.
(with a report from Agence France-Presse)
