A man gets a COVID-19 swab test at the urban bus station, in downtown Brasília, Brazil on Jan 7, 2022. (SERGIO LIMA / AFP)
LONDON / ATHENS / WASHINGTON /ADDIS ABABA / SAO PAULO – COVID-19 is on the rise again in the Americas as many countries have abandoned measures like masking and social distancing and many lag in vaccination rates, the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday.
Cases in the Americas surged 27.2 percent last week from the prior one, driven primarily by a spike in infections in the United States, according to the Pan American Health Organization
Cases in the Americas surged 27.2 percent last week from the prior one, driven primarily by a spike in infections in the United States, according to PAHO.
More than half of a total 918,000 infections came from North America as US cases jumped by 33 percent to 605,000 in the last week. Infections in North America have now been climbing for the past seven weeks.
PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne noted that many countries and local governments are giving up measures to protect against the virus and have reopened borders after a period of lower transmission.
"Masking and social distancing have served us well since the start of the pandemic and are still valid measures to lower virus transmission," she said, adding that governments should be ready to scale up these measures whenever there is an increase in cases or deaths.
Too many people remain at risk, PAHO said, as only 14 of the 51 countries and territories in the Americas have reached the World Health Organization's goal of vaccinating 70 percent of their population, she added during a news conference.
PAHO said new COVID-19 infections and deaths in the region have been rising steadily over the past four weeks, with over 3,500 fatalities reported last week.
Central America saw the largest percentage rise in cases, with infections soaring by 80 percent. In Brazil, the second most populated country in the Americas, infections increased by 9 percent to 120,000.
"It is time to take stock of these numbers and act. COVID-19 is again on the rise in the Americas," Etienne said. "The truth is this virus is not going away anytime soon."
Africa
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 11,570,885 as of Wednesday evening, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The specialized healthcare agency of the African Union said the death toll across the continent stands at 252,771 and some 10,892,454 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are among the countries with the most cases on the continent, said the Africa CDC.
South Africa has recorded the most COVID-19 cases in Africa with more than 3,899,841 cases, followed by the northern African country of Morocco with 1,165,984 cases as of Wednesday evening, it said.
In terms of the caseload, southern Africa is the most affected region, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa is the least affected region, according to the Africa CDC.
This file illustration photograph taken on Nov 17, 2020, shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of French-Austrian vaccine firm Valneva in London. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
EU
The European Union's medicine regulator accepted Valneva's filing of marketing authorization application for its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the French company said on Thursday.
"The Company confirms it would expect to receive a positive CHMP opinion in June", Valneva said.
Earlier this week, Valneva nearly a fifth of its value on the stock exchange after announcing its COVID-19 vaccine agreement with the European Commission was likely to be scrapped and it might have to rethink its financial guidance.
The supply deal gave the EU the right to cancel if the vaccine was not endorsed by the European Medicines Agency by the end of April. Valneva had previously said it was confident that it will by June.
Greece
Greece is to lift the mandatory use of protective face masks for COVID-19 in indoors and outdoors public spaces from June to September, Greek Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced on Wednesday.
"From June 1, 2022 to Sept 15, 2022 the mandatory use of the mask is suspended in all indoor and outdoor areas. These include airplanes and intercity transport where there is a numbered seat, such as trains and buses," he said via the Greek national broadcaster ERT.
The measure concerns the public as well as employees, he noted.
Mask wearing remains mandatory in hospitals, care facilities for the elderly, as well as urban transport, like buses and the metro, according to an e-mailed ministry press release.
Announcements regarding schools and sea transports will follow next week.
Although the measure is lifted and no fines will be imposed, "we still advise and recommend, in particular to people belonging to vulnerable groups, to continue wearing masks," the official said.
Lately, Greek authorities have gradually lifted most restrictive measures for COVID-19.
This picture taken on April 15, 2020 shows a sign of the World Health Organization at the entrance of their headquarters in Geneva amid the coronavirus outbreak. (PHOTO / AFP)
WHO
The world is no better prepared for a new pandemic than it was when coronavirus emerged in 2019 and may actually be in a worse place given the economic toll, according to a panel set up by the World Health Organization to evaluate the global response.
A lack of progress on reforms such as international health regulations means the world is as vulnerable as ever, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response said in its report.
A lack of progress on reforms such as international health regulations means the world is as vulnerable as ever, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response said in its report
The authors, led by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, acknowledged some progress, including on more robust funding for the WHO, but said the process was going far too slowly.
"We have right now the very same tools and the same system that existed in December 2019 to respond to a pandemic threat. And those tools just weren't good enough," Clark told reporters.
"If there were a new pandemic threat this year, next year, or the year after at least, we will be largely in the same place … maybe worse, given the tight fiscal space of many, if not most, countries right now."
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Wednesday's report comes ahead of next week's World Health Assembly in Geneva, the WHO's annual decision-making forum, which is expected to address some of the issues raised.
While the body welcomed some steps forward, including moves to establish a separate global health security fund within the World Bank, it warned that global interest was waning and the years it will take to set up other instruments – including a potential pandemic treaty, an international agreement to improve preparedness – were too long.
The panel called for a high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly and independent health threats council led by heads-of-state to galvanise action.
"Only the highest-level political leadership has the legitimacy to bring multiple sectors together in this way," Sirleaf said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill (center) and daughter Ashley attend a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Nov 26, 2021 during Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.（MANDEL NGAN / AFP）
US
US President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said on Wednesday.
Therefore, Ashley Biden dropped out of a foreign trip with first lady Jill Biden to Latin America, spokesman Michael LaRose told reporters.
Ashley Biden was not considered a close contact to either Joe Biden or his wife, LaRose said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as someone who is less than 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from an infected individual for more than 15 minutes.
The infection is the latest to affect Joe Biden's inner circle.
A series of Biden administration officials have recently tested positive for COVID-19, including Vice President Kamala Harris. Valerie Biden Owens, Joe Biden's sister, contracted the virus in April.
