WHO: 24% drop in in global Covid-19 cases even as deaths rise in Asia. Read here

Covid-19 infections reportedly dropped across the the world, including by nearly 40% in Africa and Europe and by a third in the Middle East, even as Covid deaths rose in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia by 31% and 12% respectively, but fell or remained stable everywhere else, the report said. 

It is worth noting that at a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had notified that the reported Covid-19 deaths over the past month surged 35%, stating that there had been 15,000 deaths in the past week.

The WHO chief said, “15,000 deaths a week is completely unacceptable, when we have all the tools to prevent infections and save lives,” adding that the number of virus sequences shared every week has plummeted 90%, making it extremely difficult for scientists to monitor how Covid-19 might be mutating, according to AP report. However, the WHO chief warned “none of us is helpless. Please get vaccinated if you are not, and if you need a booster, get one.” 

Meanwhile, India saw a single day rise of 12,608 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,42,98,864, while the active cases declined to 1,01,343, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The data further showed that the national death toll climbed to 5,27,206 with 72 fatalities, adding that a decline of 3,715 cases was recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Additionally, as per the health ministry report, 208.95 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

(With inputs from AP)

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