Two women walk next to graves of people who died due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Parque Taruma cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, on May 20, 2021.
Bruno Kelly | Reuters
More than 5 million people have died of Covid-19 in less than two years as the world continues to battle the highly contagious Delta strain of the virus and keep an eye out for new mutations.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University early Monday, 5,000,425 Covid-19-related deaths have been recorded worldwide. 745,836 people have died of Covid-19 in the United States, making it the country with the most recorded deaths.
The coronavirus pandemic, which first appeared in China in late 2019, continues to cause deadly consequences worldwide.
It is as a result that many countries are lifting pandemic restrictions and ending lockdowns, which were imposed to varying degrees throughout 2020 in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading.
The rapid development of Covid vaccines, clinically proven to significantly reduce serious infections, hospital stays, and deaths from the coronavirus, has helped dramatically reduce the number of people dying from Covid, especially in western countries where the vaccination programs are at an advanced stage.
Read more: The Delta variant has a mutation that worries experts: Here’s what we know so far
Nonetheless, there have been growing concerns in recent months about an increase in infections, hospital admissions, and deaths as winter approaches, not only among the unvaccinated, who are far more at risk of serious complications from Covid, but also among the elderly (who are too vaccinated first), as immunity wears off over time.
Cases and deaths are slowly increasing
The total number of Covid cases and deaths is increasing worldwide, albeit at a slower pace than in previous periods of the pandemic.
In the week of October 18-24, the World Health Organization announced that the number of weekly Covid cases and deaths had increased slightly from the previous week, with over 2.9 million new cases and more than 49,000 new deaths, a 4 Increase% and 5% respectively.
Europe accounted for more than half (57%) of the world’s new weekly cases and was the only region to report a higher number of cases than the previous week.
Other regions reported a decrease in the number of new cases compared to the previous week. The largest decrease in new cases was reported from the African region (21%), followed by the West Pacific region (17%).
Most new cases were reported in the US (with 512,956 new cases, although this was a 12% decrease from the previous week), the UK (with 330,465 new cases; an increase of 16%) and Russia with 248,956 new cases; 15% more than the previous week.
Delta plus
The Covid-19 virus has gone through several significant mutations that have caused it to spread faster and trigger new waves of infections in the US, Europe and Asia.
Two mutations, now referred to as the alpha and delta variants, are dominant worldwide. A new mutation in the Delta variant is currently being investigated to see whether it could make the virus even more contagious.
Read More: British Doctors Call For Urgent Return Of Covid Restrictions As Experts Monitor New Mutations
This so-called “Delta plus” variant is reported in more and more countries, including the USA, Great Britain and Australia.
Last week the WHO announced that it is closely tracking the Delta subvariant, officially known as AY.4.2, and that it has so far been reported in 42 countries.
“An increase in AY.4.2 sequence filings has been observed since July,” the World Health Organization said in its latest weekly epidemiological update. The majority of cases attributable to the AY.4.2 variant have been discovered in the UK and these are becoming more common, it said.
“A gradual increase in the proportional contribution of AY.4.2 was observed [in the U.K.]; That’s an estimated 5.9% of the total Delta cases reported in the week of October 3, 2021, “the WHO said.
Read more: The UK currently has one of the highest Covid infection rates in the world: Here’s why
Epidemiological and laboratory studies are ongoing to assess whether AY.4.2 makes the virus more transmissible or makes antibodies against the virus less effective.
