A new virulent Covid wave is sweeping the work with million infections registered between March 7 and March 13.
This was 8 percent higher compared to the previous week. “These increases are occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we’re seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The global body has attributed the surge to a combination of factors including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its cousin the BA.2 sub-variant, and the lifting of public health and social measures.
China tops the list with new infections. Cases are at two years high in the country. The spike is said to be driven by the ‘stealth Omicron’ variant. Xi Jinping has hinted at a tweak in the strategy with an eye on economic impact. South Korea saw a new record with 621,328 Covid cases and 429 deaths on Thursday.
Experts have been blaming vaccine equity for the world failing to stop the fresh waves of Covid. In the United States, top medical expert Anthony Fauci has said restrictions will have to be brought back if cases rise
