WHO warns coronavirus is yet to peak, amid race to develop vaccine
Print Edition
As Brazil and India struggle with surging coronavirus cases, a top health expert is warning the world is still smack in the middle of the pandemic, dampening hopes for a speedy global economic rebound and renewed international travel.
“Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first wave globally,” said Dr Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s executive director.
“We’re still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up,” Ryan told reporters, pointing to South America, South Asia and other areas where infections are still on the rise.
India saw a record single-day jump in new cases for the seventh straight day. It reported 6,535 new infections yesterday, raising its total to 145,380, including 4,167 deaths.
The virus has taken hold in some of India’s poorest, most densely populated areas, underscoring the challenges that authorities face in curbing the spread of a virus for which a vaccine or cure isn’t yet in sight.
Most of India’s cases are concentrated in the western states of Maharashtra, home to the financial hub of Mumbai, and Gujarat. Infections have also climbed in the east as migrant workers stranded by lockdowns returned to their native villages from India’s largest cities.
The WHO poured cold water on the hopes of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and others of quickly reopening the economy, warning that authorities must first have enough testing in place to control the spread of the pandemic.
Brazil has 375,000 coronavirus infections — second only to the 1.6 million cases in the US — and has counted over 23,000 deaths but many fear Brazil’s true toll is much higher.
Ryan said Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates means it should keep some stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of the negative impacts on its economy.
But Sao Paulo Governor João Doria who ruled out a full lockdown in Brazil’s largest state economy, now plans to start loosening restrictions from June 1.
In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop, designated religious institutions as “essential services” so they could stay open with social distancing rules despite recommendations for people to stay at home and most businesses remaining shut.
The US on Monday amended the timing of the start of its travel ban on Brazil to 11:59pm local time yesterday, instead of tomorrow as in the original announcement.
The Russian government reported a record daily spike yesterday of 174 deaths, bringing the country’s confirmed death toll to 3,807. Russia’s coronavirus caseload surpassed 360,000 — the third highest in the world — with almost 9,000 new infections.
The country’s comparatively low mortality rate has raised questions among experts. Russian officials, however, vehemently deny manipulating figures and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the country’s lockdown.
Spain’s foreign minister Arancha González Laya said yesterday that European Union members should commonly agree to open borders and jointly determine which non-EU countries are designated as safe for travel.
She said Spain is eager to welcome tourists to shore up an industry that accounts for 12 percent of the country’s GDP but plans to do it with “health, sustainability and safety.”
Tests by a US biotechnology company, Novavax, have begun in Australia with hopes of a proven vaccine this year.
A Novavax executive said 131 volunteers were getting injections in the first phase of the trial. Novovax expects the results of the trial to be known in July.
About a dozen experimental vaccines are in early stages of testing or poised to start.
“We are in parallel making doses, making vaccine in anticipation that we’ll be able to show it’s working and be able to start deploying it by the end of this year,” Novovax’s research chief, Dr Gregory Glenn said.
Worldwide, the coronavirus has infected nearly 5.5 million people, killing over 346,000. Experts say the tally understates the real effects of the pandemic due to counting issues in many nations.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
