COVID-19’s Delta variant has spread to 135 countries: WHO

The global number of new cases has been increasing for more than a month, with over four million cases reported in the past week — July 26 to August 1, the update said

United Nations: The highly-transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 has now been reported in 135 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update dated August 3, released by WHO, said globally 132 countries have reported cases of the Beta variant and 81 countries of the Gamma variant. It said the cases of Alpha variant have been reported in 182 countries, territories or areas, while 135 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, which was first identified in India. The global number of new cases has been increasing for more than a month, with over four million cases reported in the past week — July 26 to August 1, the update said.

“This increasing trend is largely attributed to substantial increases in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific Regions which reported 37 per cent and 33 per cent increases respectively as compared to the previous week, while the South-East Asia Region reported a 9 per cent increase,” it said.

Overall, the number of deaths reported this week decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous week, with over 64,000 deaths reported. However, the Western Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean Regions showed a sharp increase in new deaths as compared to the previous week, reporting 48 per cent and 31 per cent increases, respectively. 

The cumulative number of cases reported globally has crossed 200 million and the number of cumulative deaths is 4.2 million. At the country level, the highest numbers of new cases in the past week were reported by the United States (543,420 new cases; 9 per cent increase), India (283,923 new cases; 7 per cent increase), Indonesia (273,891 new cases; 5 per cent decrease), Brazil (247,830 new cases; 24 per cent decrease), and Iran (206,722 new cases; 27 per cent increase).

US has 93.4 per cent of Delta cases

Meanwhile, the Delta variant now accounts for an estimated 93.4 per cent of all the new COVID-19 cases in the US that were reported during the last two weeks of July, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. In its latest update on Wednesday, the CDC said that this number is even higher in certain parts of the country, showed the updated figures for the week ending July 31, reports Xinhua news agency. 

In the Midwest including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, Delta variant accounts for more than 98 per cent of all new cases. These figures have shown a rapid increase over the past two months.

Melbourne goes into sixth lockdown

Australia’s second-largest city Melbourne went into a sixth lockdown on Thursday, with a state government leader blaming the nation’s slow COVID-19 vaccination rollout for the decision. Melbourne joins Sydney and Brisbane, Australia’s most populous and third-most populous cities respectively, in locking down due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will remain under lockdown for seven weeks after eight new infections were detected in the city, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.

Tokyo logs in record 5,042 new cases

Tokyo reported 5,042 new daily Coronavirus cases on Thursday, hitting a record since the pandemic began as the infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics. The additional cases brought the total for Tokyo to 236,138. Nationwide, Japan reported more than 14,000 cases on Wednesday for a total of 970,000. Tokyo has been under a state of emergency since mid-July, and four other areas have since been added. But the measures, basically a ban on alcohol in restaurants and bars and their shorter hours, are increasingly ignored by the public.

Israel issues travel warning for 18 nations

The Israeli Ministry of Health on Thursday issued a severe travel warning for 18 more countries due to their high Coronavirus morbidity. The travel warning will take effect on August 11, reports Xinhua news agency. The countries are the US, France, Ukraine, Italy, Iceland, Eswatini, Botswana, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Tanzania, Greece, Malawi, Egypt, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Rwanda and Tunisia.

EU enters deal to buy Novavax shots

The European Commission announced it has approved a deal that allows European Union member states to buy up to 200 million doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 jab, once the European Medicines Agency deems it safe for use. In a statement, the Commission said through the agreement with the firm, EU countries will be able to purchase 100 million Novavax vaccine doses, with the option to purchase a further 100 million over the course of 2021, 2022, and 2023.

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