NEW DELHI : The Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for global governance and recommended the establishment of a Global Health Board “under the auspices of the G20”, reports news agency AFP. This comes at a time when the global caseload of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has topped 223.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.61 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
Australia is the latest country to record new highs of Covid-19 infections in the current outbreak.
Australia’s second most populous state Victoria on Saturday reported the biggest one-day rise in locally acquired Covid-19 cases in more than a year. Victoria state said it had detected 450 locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the biggest one-day rise since August 8, 2020. The spike in new cases comes as Australia struggles to contain the highly infectious Delta variant.
Here’s a look at other nation’s Covid-19 situation:
- India: India saw a single-day rise of 33,376 coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking the overall tally of cases to 3,32,08,330, while the number of active cases increased marginally since Friday to stand at 3,91,516, according to the Union health ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in the country. The topics covered included a review of the prevailing Covid-19 scenario, preparedness of the health systems to respond, availability of medical oxygen and matters relating to production, supply and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.
- United States: The situation is dire in the US, with an average of 1,50,000 new cases emerging and 1,500 people dying every day. President Joe Biden announced a new Covid-19 strategy which focuses on increasing vaccine coverage and increase testing. He has asked officer with more than 100 workers to make sure that employees are vaccinated. He also reprimanded GOP leaders for fighting rules on face coverings and other virus precautions in schools.
- United Kingdom: Britain’s medical regulator on Thursday gave the go-ahead for Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to be used as booster shots, but said any decision to proceed with a booster programme was for others to make.
- Egypt: Egypt’s daily cases of coronavirus have surpassed 400 for the first time in months. The health ministry on Friday reported 413 cases and 12 fatalities for the past 24 hours.
