UN Chief Guterres cautions against the massive Covid-19 outbreak in Asia.Read here

In the video message “One World Protected-Break Covid Now” to GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment Summit 2022 Antonio Guterres On Friday, the rally said it was an important reminder that the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t over yet.

He further states: “We see 1.5 million new cases every day. Large-scale outbreaks are widespread. Asia.. A new wave is rushing across Europe, “he added, adding that some countries have reported the highest mortality rates since the pandemic began. — If you do not have a particularly high vaccination rate. He said that while some high-income countries are preparing for a second boost, one-third of humanity remains unvaccinated.

“This is a brutal accusation of our deep and unequal world. It is also the main breeding ground for new subspecies, with more deaths and more human and financial misery,” he said. Guterres said the next variant was a matter of “when” rather than “if”. Time is important as vaccination rates reach 70% in all countries by the middle of this year and new variants emerge on average every four months. ”

He added that governments and pharmaceutical companies need to work together to deliver vaccines to everyone, not just in wealthy countries, but everywhere. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the new strain of Covid-19 Omicron mutant, first detected in the UK, appears to be more infectious than the previous virus strain. WHO said last week that the XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2) was first detected in the UK on January 19, and more than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since then. “Early estimates show a 10% increase in community growth compared to BA.2, but this finding needs further confirmation,” he said.

XE added that it belonged to the Omicron variant until a significant difference in the characteristics of the infection and the disease, including severity, was reported. “WHO, along with other SARS-CoV-2 variants, will continue to closely monitor and assess the public health risks associated with recombinant variants and will provide up-to-date information as further evidence becomes available. . ”

According to the WHO Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update published this week, the number of new Covid-19 cases declined for the second straight week, down 16% during the week after the increase observed in the first half of March 2022. bottom. From March 28th to April 3rd compared to the previous week. The number of new weekly deaths also decreased sharply (-43%) compared to the previous week when an artificial surge in deaths was observed. Over 9 million new cases and over 26,000 new deaths have been reported across the six WHO regions. All regions reported a declining trend in both new weekly cases and new weekly deaths. As of April 3, more than 489 million cases and more than 6 million deaths have been reported worldwide.

At the national level, South Korea (2,058,375 new cases; 16% decrease), Germany (1,371,270 new cases; 13% decrease), France (959,084 new cases; 13% increase), Vietnam (796,725 cases). New cases; 29% decrease), and Italy (486,695 new cases; 3% decrease). The highest number of new deaths each week was in the United States (4,435 new deaths, 10% decrease), Russia (2,357 new deaths, 18% decrease), and South Korea (2,336 new deaths, 5). 5 people per person). Cents decrease), Germany (1,592 new deaths; 5% increase), Brazil (1,436 new deaths; 19% decrease). Guterres points out that the supply of the Covid-19 vaccine is not an issue as the manufacturer inoculates 1.5 billion times a month, although progress can be made in achieving vaccine fairness. , Said the window is closing rapidly.

(There is input from the agency)