Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 827th day of the pandemic.
As we head into the weekend, please remember that the end of coronavirus restrictions in many jurisdictions in some respects masks the seriousness of the current and highly contagious omicron variant that is dominant in many parts of the world including the United States at the present time, BA.5.
“Everybody wants to put this pandemic behind us and feel and hope it doesn’t exist,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, in an interview . “It does,” he added.
Following basic prudent measures such as masking indoors and in crowded outdoor areas can go a long way to reduce the risk, as can getting vaccinated if not already and receiving booster doses, Fauci said in earlier interviews.
It’s good advice… please take it.
In other news we cover today, Australia is reinstating coronavirus pandemic leave disaster payments to individuals and lockdowns are continuing to return to Chinese cities.
Here’s a look at what has taken place over the past 24 hours.
GLOBAL
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he will bring back the 750 Australian dollar ($509.30) pandemic leave disaster payment even though he previously moved to end it.
“I want to make sure that people aren’t left behind, that vulnerable people are looked after,” he said. “That no-one is faced with the unenviable choice of not being able to isolate properly without losing an income.”
In China, several cities across China have imposed partial lockdowns in response to local outbreaks of Covid. Thisincluds Jiamusi, a city on the Russian border, as well as Beihai, a coastal city of 1.8 million people in Guangxi, and Huaiyuan county in Anhui, which has a population of one million.
Meanwhile, officials in Macau extended its citywide lockdown until July 22 in a bid to contain a recent coronavirus surge, and the government said it would provide an additional 10 billion patacas ($1.2 billion) in aid to struggling businesses there.
TRAVEL
Officials in Belize ended its remaining coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Visitors will no longer need to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative coronavirus test in order to enter via its land or sea borders.
“With the emergence of weaker variants of Covid-19 and with the global trend of restrictions being relaxed, the time has come to take the pressure off of our health systems,” said Kevin Bernard, the minister of health and wellness for Belize, in a statement provided. “We’ve reached a level where it’s now everyone’s personal responsibility to decide whether they want to be vaccinated or not.”
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Saturday, July 16.
As of Saturday morning, the world has recorded 566.7 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 1 million new cases in the preceding 24 hour period, and 6.39 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 537.9 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.7 million.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Saturday is 22,408,916, an increase of 256,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,369,880, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 39,036, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical is unchanged over the pat 24 hours.
The United States reported 166,772 new coronavirus infections on Saturday for the previous day, compared to 136,289 on Friday, 191,735 on Thursday, 183,322 on Wednesday, 175,329 on Tuesday and 22,569 on Monday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate continues to be over 100,000 and is now 128,515. Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.
The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 129,987, a 14% increase, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 419, an increase of 8% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 40,091, a 20% increase.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Saturday, recorded 91.2 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.05 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 43.7 million, and a reported death toll of 525,660.
New data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed at the end of May that the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 812,890, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, after the United States. Rosstat reported that 11,583 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in April, down from 35,584 in March and from 43,543 in February.
Meanwhile, Brazil now has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 675,145, and has recorded 33.2 million cases.
France continues to occupy the number four position in total cases with over 32.8 million cases, and Germany is in the number five slot with 29.7 million. The United Kingdom, with 23.1 million cases, is now number six and is the only other country in the world with a total number of cases over the 20 million mark, while Italy is fast approaching that mark, with over 19.9 million cases.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Saturday, over 260.7 million people in the United States – or 78.5% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 67.1%, or 222.7 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 596.2 million. Breaking this down further, 89.8% of the population over the age of 18 – or 231.8 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 77% of the same group – or 198.8 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 51.3% of that population, or 102 million people, has already received a third, or booster, dose of vaccine.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish it on Saturdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Over 66.8% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Saturday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 12.22 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 5.74 million doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 19.4% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain in the single digits, if not lower.
In addition, North Korea and Eritrea are now the only two countries in the world that have not administered vaccines.
Paul Riegler contributed to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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