Delta variant of coronavirus now reported in 135 countries: WHO

The highlytransmissible Delta variant of Covid19 has now been reported in 135 countries according to the World Health Organization which said the cumulative number of coronavirus cases reported globally could exceed 200 million by next weekThe Covid19 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 variantIt 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 IndiaThe global number of new cases has been increasing for more than a month with over 4 million cases reported in the past week July 26 to August 1 the update saidldquoThis 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 SouthEast Asia Region reported a 9 per cent increaserdquo it saidOverall the number of deaths reported this week decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous week with over 64000 deaths reportedHowever 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 respectivelyThe cumulative number of cases reported globally is now nearly 197 million and the number of cumulative deaths is 42 million ldquoIf these trends continue the cumulative number of cases reported globally could exceed 200 million by next weekrdquo the update saidAt the country level the highest numbers of new cases in the past week were reported by the United States 543420 new cases 9 per cent increase India 283923 new cases 7 per cent increase Indonesia 273891 new cases 5 per cent decrease Brazil 247830 new cases 24 per cent decrease and Iran 206722 new cases 27 per cent increaseThe SouthEast Asia region reported a 9 per cent increase in new cases as compared to the previous week over 841000 cases while the number of weekly deaths remained similar to the previous week 22000 deathsThe highest numbers of new cases in the region were reported from India 283923 new cases 206 new cases per 100000 7 per cent increase Indonesia 273891 new cases 1001 new cases per 100000 5 per cent decrease and Thailand 118012 new cases 1691 new cases per 100000 26 per cent increaseCases from India Indonesia and Thailand accounted for 80 per cent of new cases being reported from the regionThe highest numbers of new deaths were reported from Indonesia 12444 new deaths 45 new deaths per 100000 28 per cent increase India 3800 new deaths less than one new death per 100000 45 per cent decrease and Myanmar 2620 new deaths 48 new deaths per 100000 24 per cent increaseAmid the growing cases of Delta variant and vaccine inequity WHO called for a ldquomoratorium on booster shots of the Covid19 vaccine until at least the end of September noting with concern the disparity in vaccination levels in low and highincome countriesWHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on Wednesday that while highincome countries have now administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people lowincome countries have only been able to administer 15 doses for every 100 people due to lack of supplyWe need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to highincome countries to the majority going to lowincome countriesrdquo he saidldquoAccordingly WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September to enable at least 1037 of the population of every country to be vaccinatedrdquo the WHO chief saidWHOrsquos goal remains to support every country to vaccinate at least 10 per cent of its population by the end of September at least 40 per cent by the end of this year and 7037 by the middle of next yearThe global health agency urged ldquoeveryone with influencerdquo ndash Olympic athletes investors business leaders faith leaders and every individual in their own family and community to support its call for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of SeptemberHe added that ensuring increased vaccination coverage in lowincome countries requires everyonersquos cooperation especially the handful of countries and companies that control the global supply of vaccinesSo far more than four billion Covid19 vaccine doses have been administered globally and over 8037 have gone to high and uppermiddle income countries even though they account for less than half of the worldrsquos populationldquoAnd yet even while hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose some rich countries are moving towards booster dosesrdquo Ghebreyesus saidEmphasising that while he understands the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant Ghebreyesus said ldquowe cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it the worldrsquos most vulnerable people remain unprotectedIn response to the Delta surge the Access to Covid19 Tools Accelerator is launching the Rapid ACTAccelerator Delta Response or RADAR issuing an urgent call for 77 billion dollars for tests treatments and vaccinesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever