E-Paper
2 new Omicron variants on WHO radar, Canada’s Ontario faces new surge: 10 points
As the vaccination mark nears 186 crore in India, over 3 million vaccine doses are about to go to waste in Germany as citizens are reluctant to get inoculated. Here are updates on global Covid cases.
As Europe and Shanghai are currently battling the Omicron BA.2 variant-led surge in infections, the WHO on Monday said that two new sub-variants (BA.4 and BA.5) are now being monitored by the global health body over their transmissibility and severity. Meanwhile, as the vaccination mark nears 186 crore in India, over 3 million vaccine doses are about to go to waste in Germany as citizens are reluctant to get inoculated. The WHO has been advocating the importance of vaccine equity across the globe.
Here are updates on global Covid cases
1. Two new sub-variants of Omicron - BA.4 and BA.5 - are now under the WHO watch as the global health body assesses whether they are more infectious or dangerous, Reuters reported. The World Health Organisation said on Monday “We are tracking a few dozen cases of two new sub-variants of the highly transmissible Omicron strain. We are already tracking BA.1 and BA.2 - now globally dominant - as well as BA.1.1 and BA.3,” the World Health Organisation said on Monday, news agency Reuters reported.
2. Chinese financial hub Shanghai reported over 23,000 new cases of coronavirus. 22,348 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases and 994 symptomatic cases were logged for April 11, the local government said on Tuesday. The city has now been carefully easing curbs after imposing the toughest restrictions in a long time.
3. The United States on Tuesday reiterated its order for all non-essential employees at its Shanghai consulate to leave, while voicing concerns for the ‘safety of Americans in China’ as the city battles worst-ever Covid-19 surge. China had previously objected to the US statement saying that White House is ‘closely monitoring China’ over the Shanghai outbreak.
4. Italy witnessed a single-day spike of 28,368 cases on Monday, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths rose to 115 as against 90 on the previous day. Only 192,782 Coronavirus tests were conducted in the past day, sharply down from a previous 352,265, the health ministry said.
5. As France reported 176 new deaths on Monday - a sharp increase from previous death figures, the total toll of ‘deaths in hospital’ rose to 114,871. France is currently struggling with a surge in the number of Covid-19 patients needing intensive care.
6. The number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Germany went up by 1.62 Lakh to reach 22,840,776. 289 new Covid-linked fatalities were also reported as per Robert Koch Institute.
7. Around three million vaccine doses are expected to expire in Germany by the end of June, a spokesperson for the health ministry said on Monday, as supply outstrips demand because a declining number of people are being vaccinated.
8. Highlighting the need to address the issues of access and distribution of vaccines across the world, India expressed concern regarding the low vaccination levels of the population in 'countries facing conflict situations'. "While we have made significant progress...the issues of vaccine equity, access, distribution, and administration remain to be addressed," India told UNSC, reported news agency ANI.
9. Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, is facing its sixth wave of the pandemic driven by the highly transmissible BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron Coronavirus. “Hospitalisations are likely to rise over the coming weeks,”a top doctor was quoted as saying by Reuters.
10. "In the last few weeks we have seen an increase in the percent positivity and upward trend in wastewater surveillance and a rise in hospitalizations. These trends are likely to continue for the next several weeks," Ontario's chief medical officer Kieran Moore said at a briefing.
(With inputs from Reuters)
