Geneva, July 15: The world is now in the early stages of a third wave, amid rising cases of Covid’s Delta variant, World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.
The spread of the Delta variant, along with increased social mobility and the inconsistent use of proven public health measures, is driving an increase in both case numbers and deaths, he said at the 8th meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Wednesday.
“And after 10 weeks of declines, deaths are increasing again. The virus continues to evolve, resulting in more transmissible variants. Unfortunately, we are now in the early stages of a third wave,” Ghebreyesus said.
“The Delta variant is now in more than 111 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant Covid-19 strain circulating worldwide, if it isn’t already,” he added.
Emphasising that vaccines alone will not stop the pandemic, he also called upon countries to persist with a “tailored and consistent approach”. This includes using the full array of public health and social measures, and a comprehensive risk management approach to mass gatherings.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for a return to normal life.
WHO has reported that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline.
It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3 per cent increase from the week before.
Cases rose 10 per cent last week to nearly 3 million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.
The reversal has been attributed to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant, WHO said.
The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 188.2 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.05 million and vaccinations soared to over 3.49 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 188,284,090, 4,057,061 and 3,496,851,294, respectively.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 33,946,217 and 608,104, respectively, according to the CSSE. (Agencies)
