Global Covid-19 cases hit weekly record, topping 5.2 million

India and Brazil in particular shouldering surging caseloads
Record tally comes days after world surpassed 3 million deaths

Coronavirus pandemic

Bloomberg

Published: 3:10pm, 19 Apr 2021

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More people were diagnosed with Covid-19 during the past seven days than any other week since the start of the pandemic - topping 5.2 million globally - with the worst outbreaks accelerating in many countries that are ill-equipped to deal with them.

The worrisome trend, just days after the world surpassed 3 million deaths, comes as countries are rolling out vaccinations in an effort to get the virus under control. The data from Johns Hopkins University showing a 12 per cent increase in infections from a week earlier casts doubt on the hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight.

The weekly increase surpassed the previous high set in mid-December. While infection rates have largely slowed in the US and UK, countries in the developing world - India and Brazil in particular - were shouldering surging caseloads.

05:23

Global Covid-19 death toll passes three million mark

The global death toll is also resuming momentum. Fatalities have increased for the past month and were about 82,000 the week ended April 18, an average of almost 12,000 a day. That’s up from just over 60,000 in the week ended March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent nadir.

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India and Brazil are the two largest contributors in driving up cases globally - a race neither of them wants to win. Facing a sudden surge in coronavirus infections, India is once again home to the world’s second-largest outbreak, overtaking Brazil after the latter moved ahead in March. Hospitals from Mumbai to Sao Paulo are under increasing pressure as admissions continue to rise.

India and Brazil have so far administered doses equivalent to cover 4.5 per cent and 8.3 per cent of their populations respectively, compared with 33 per cent for US and 32 per cent in UK, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

But it’s not just developing nations that have seen recent setbacks in their efforts to tackle the pandemic. Rare cases of clotting seen in people who have taken vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have fueled the vaccine skepticism being faced by governments worldwide.

The US was “in somewhat of a precarious position” with a seven-day average of more than 60,000 new Covid-19 infections per day, though vaccinations will bring the number down, Anthony Fauci, US President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said on ABC’s This Week.

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“That’s good news, we’ve got to keep that up,” he said. “But we also have to make sure that people don’t throw caution to the wind and declare victory prematurely.”

He also said a decision on how to resume vaccinating Americans with the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus shot will probably come by Friday. “I doubt very seriously if they just cancel” the J&J vaccine, one of three approved for use in the US, he said.

New variants of the virus have also sent infections surging further. Brazil is where one of the most potentially deadly coronavirus mutations, the P.1 variant, was identified in December. Studies suggest these strains - along with variants first seen in South Africa and the UK - are more contagious.

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