COVID deaths surpass 6 million

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 6 million lives as it enters its third year, according to a tally kept by the US Johns Hopkins University  

The tally showed that the last million of those deaths occurred in the past four months. That rate, though slower than the previous million, underscores the fact the many countries are still struggling to curb the spread of the virus even as many others have begun to drop restrictions.

Death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries. A number of remote Pacific islands that have up to now been spared contact with the virus are seeing their first outbreaks, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

The figure of 6 million is considered by many experts to be only a partial count, partly in view of poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world. There are also deaths that have only indirectly been attributed to the pandemic, such as those of people with treatable diseases who could not receive care because hospitals were overwhelmed. 

 An analysis of excess deaths, seen by many as a better measure of the deadly impact of the pandemic, has been made by a team at The Economist magazine. It estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14 million and 23.5 million.

 

Here are the latest major developments on coronavirus from around the world:

Africa

US vaccine maker Moderna has said it will build a mRNA vaccine-manufacturing facility in Kenya, its first in Africa, with the aim of producing doses for a continent where a majority of the 1.3 billion population is not vaccinated.

The company has signed an agreement with Kenya's government to produce up to 500 million doses a year, and said it expects to invest $500 million (€460 million) in the facility.

Moderna said it hopes the facility will have the capacity to supply doses of its COVID-19 jab to African nations as early as next year.

"Moderna's investment in Kenya will help advance equitable global vaccine access and is emblematic of the structural developments that will enable Africa to become an engine of sustainable global growth," said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

More than a year after the world's first COVID-19 shot was administered, just 12.7% of Africans have been fully immunized, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The pandemic has highlighted Africa's huge dependence on imported vaccines and its lack of tech infrastructure in comparison with many other regions of the world.

Asia

Hong Kong reported 25,150 new coronavirus infections and 280 deaths on Monday, amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak.

The disease has particularly affected hundreds of nursing homes and many of the city's unvaccinated elderly people.

Hong Kong controlled the virus relatively successfully in 2021, but has now counted a total of 500,000 COVID-19 infections in its population of around 7.7 million, with an overall death toll of 2,200. 

Most of the deaths in the Chinese-ruled city have been in the past two weeks.

China itself on Monday reported its highest number of COVID cases in two years, with more than 500 infections across more than a dozen cities.  

That's the highest figure recorded since China's initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan was brought under control in the middle of 2020.

The new outbreaks pose a major challenge to the country's zero-COVID strategy.

Indonesia on Monday lifted a quarantine requirement for international visitors who arrive on the resort island of Bali.

Visitors will, however, need to present proof of negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

The move comes a week earlier than planned, an official said. Indonesia's tourism sector, an important part of the country's economy, has been badly hit by the pandemic.

Europe

The conflict caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine could lead to a surge in coronavirus infections there amid wartime conditions, experts have said. There's also a risk that neighboring countries could be affected, as the large number of people fleeing the conflict enter their borders.

In the weeks preceding the war, Ukraine was in the middle of a wave of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, Petra Khoury, a spokeswoman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in Geneva.

Khoury said normal hygiene measures were no longer possible, with overfilled shelters, buses, trains and hotels. She added that monitoring the pandemic situation would become more difficult, as the number of tests carried out would sink because of the war.

She said the neighboring countries of Moldovaand Romania, which have seen large numbers of Ukrainian refugees arrive, were at particular risk as their vaccination rates are comparatively low.

Hungary has lifted almost all remaining restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

The move means masks no longer need to be worn in publicly accessible indoor spaces or on public transport.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has been accused of serious failings in its pandemic response, in view of Hungary's low vaccination rate and high death toll compared with its European neighbors.

More than 44,000 of its some 10 million inhabitants have died from COVID-related causes. Austria, by contrast, has seen 15,000 deaths in its population of 9 million.

Germany has reported a rise in the seven-day rolling incidence rate of infections per 100,000 people for the fifth day running.

That figure is now 1,259.2, according to the Robert Koch Institute public health agency. On Sunday, it was 1,231.1.

A total of 78,428 new infections were registered, though experts believe the real number could be much higher as health authorities struggle to cope with the situation. On Monday last week, 62,429 infections were recorded.

Meanwhile, 24 COVID-related deaths were reported, the same figure as on the same day last week. That brings the death toll in the pandemic to 124,126.

In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II has begun returning to normal duties after a bout of COVID-19 contracted last month. On Monday, she met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in her first official in-person meeting since becoming ill.

Photographs showed Trudeau holding the queen's hand in his as they talked and laughed together.

The queen, 95, is said to have suffered only mild cold-like symptoms after announcing she had the illness on February 20. She canceled a number of engagements but continued to perform light duties.

Americas

Rio de Janeiro is relaxing the use of masks as the COVID-19 pandemic eases.

"Following the determinations of our scientific committee we will have a decree tomorrow to end the mandatory use of masks indoors and outdoors," Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said in a tweet.

Rio registered a record number of cases on January 10, with more than 33,000 people testing positive. Rio health secretary Daniel Soranz said that the current rate of positive cases is the lowest since the start of the pandemic.

Soranz added that Rio has one of the highest vaccination rates in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Brazil Federal District authorities have decided that the use of masks is only mandatory indoors, and local media said Sao Paulo is expected to follow suit.

tj/rt (AP, dpa, Reuters)