Number of Covid-19 cases in Africa has risen by 80% in the last week, says WHO

Location of the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, Ômicron, Africa registered an increase of 80% of cases of Covid-19, points out a report released on Wednesday (8) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, the number of deaths on the continent during the same period fell by 13%. In total, 79,491 new infections and 498 deaths were recorded.

Scientists are still trying to understand how the different mutations of the new strain alter its infectivity and lethality. A study released by scientists in South Africa on Tuesday (7) showed that Pfizer’s vaccine only partially protects against infection by the new variant.

Alex Sigal, responsible for leading the research, told the CNN, that those who were already infected and then immunized showed better protection against Ômicron. The study was conducted on a smaller scale and has not yet been peer reviewed.

Another location that also experienced a high in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last week was the region of the Americas, with an increase of 21% compared to the previous seven days. The region has the highest number of infections in the world, with more than 97 million cases accumulated since the beginning of the pandemic.

The rise in deaths is also worrying in the Americas, with 12,987 registered in the last week, 38% more than the previous seven days.

Facing its fourth wave of the pandemic, Europe has recorded the highest incidence of new Covid-19 cases, with 288 per 100,000 population.

According to the WHO, the number of cases of the new coronavirus worldwide remains stable, with an increase of only 2% in the previous week, while the number of deaths rose by 10%. In total, there are already 264 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic, and 5.2 million deaths.

With information from Maggie Fox of CNN