Yoshita Singh
United Nations/Geneva
The Delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and deaths, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said, warning the variant, now in over 104 countries, is expected to be the dominant Covid-19 strain circulating worldwide.
Addressing a press briefing on Monday, he said last week marked the fourth consecutive week of increasing cases of Covid-19 globally, with increases recorded in all but one of WHO’s six regions, adding with concern after 10 weeks of declines, deaths are increasing again.
“The Delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death,” the Director-General of the World Health Organisation said, adding, “Delta is now in more than 104 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant Covid strain circulating worldwide.”
Dangerous trend: WHO warns against mixing and matching Covid vaccines
The WHO’s chief scientist advised against people mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, calling it a “dangerous trend” since there was little data available about the impact.
“So it’s a little bit of a dangerous trend here. We’re in a data-free, evidence-free zone here as far as mix-and-match. There is limited data on mix and match. It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who will be taking a second, a third and a fourth dose,” Soumya Swaminathan said during an online briefing.
Financial aid as Sydney lockdown continues
Australian government officials on Tuesday announced added financial support for businesses and households as Sydney appeared increasingly likely to enter a fourth week of lockdown due to coronavirus clusters. New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she would announce on Wednesday whether Sydney’s 5 million residents would remain locked down beyond the 3-week mark on Friday.
Global caseload 187mn
The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 187 million, while the deaths have surged to over 4.03 million and vaccinations soared to over 3.46 billion, as per the Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University’s Centre for Systems Science and Engineering revealed the current global caseload, death toll and the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 187,168,058, 4,036,857 and 3,461,552,559, respectively.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest cases and deaths at 33,886,075 and 607,390, respectively.
Dashboard
-- Tunisian Prez receives 1st dose of Covid vax
-- S Korea reports 252 cases in fully vaccinated people
-- Bangladesh to ease lockdown ahead of Eid
-- Russia logs 24,702 cases over past 24 hours
-- Korea: Genexine, PHI Biomed, and POSTECH to develop mRNA vaccine
-- Israel okays 3rd Covid vax shot for adults at risk
-- SL begins administering Sinopharm vax to teachers
-- Canada to donate 17.7 million AstraZeneca vax to other countries
