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A picture of a closed shop, due to the surge of novel Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, © Chfonk | Megapixl.com
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that COVID surge has been “exponential” across the globe, as epicentre of the global pandemic has shifted to India.
Last week world witnessed around 4.4 million weekly cases – the highest number of weekly cases so far, since the onset of global pandemic.
After the decline in the weekly cases in the first six weeks of 2021, there has been constant increase in the new cases for seven weeks now, along with four weeks of increasing deaths, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO said in a virtual press briefing.
Last week, the new weekly cases jumped by 9% while the new deaths increased by 5%, even as countries are going about easing the restriction.
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“Confusion, complacency, and inconsistency in the public health measures and their application are driving the transmission and costing lives,” Mr Ghebreyesus said.
A man pictured wearing face mask to protect himself from COVID-19, in India. © Marbenzu | Megapixl.com
India has emerged as the new epicentre of the global pandemic, with everyone in five cases reported across the globe last week being from the world’s second most populous country. India reported 937,453 cases last week. The country has now overtaken Brazil to become the world’s second most affected nation from the COVID pandemic.
In Australia as well, shares dipped by 0.3% on Monday, after the federal government abandoned its COVID vaccination targets. The move comes after the shift in the stance over the AstraZeneca Plc (LON:AZN) vaccine.
