Covid-19 “cools down” globally

The latest report of the World Health Organization (WHO) has just been provided to the media on April 21. In particular, WHO said that between April 11 and 17, the whole world recorded 5.59 million new cases of Covid-19, a decrease of 24% compared to the previous week. The number of deaths was 18,215, down 21% from the previous week.

According to a detailed report from WHO, the number of new Covid-19 cases has decreased markedly in the Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe and Southeast Asia regions. In the Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean and Europe, even the countries with the highest number of cases are still lower than last week. In Southeast Asia, countries with a large increase in the number of new cases include Thailand, Bhutan, and Indonesia, but overall still decreased by 2%-44% compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, Africa decreased slightly by 7%.

Going against the global downward trend is the US, with the number of new cases of 245,595, an increase of 24%. This increase has been attributed to the new subtype BA.2.12.1 of Omicron, with incomplete evidence suggesting that it can spread approximately 27% faster than BA.2 despite not causing more severe disease. BA.2.12.1 accounted for 19% of Covid-19 cases in the US just 1 week after being identified.

The good news is that in most countries, whether the incidence increases or decreases, the death rate from Covid-19 is still decreasing. Among the countries with the highest number of new cases, only Thailand recorded a 20% increase in deaths. According to the Bangkok Post, Thai health officials had anticipated this when the Songkran festival took place in recent days, in the context of low vaccination rates among the elderly.

People wearing face masks line up to buy tickets at a recently reopened movie theater in Hong Kong (China) on April 21 Photo: REUTERS

WHO identifies 99.5% of Covid-19 cases worldwide today as caused by the Omicron strain, only 0.1% due to Delta and 0.4% due to unidentified strains. WHO still needs to be cautious because the decrease in the number of cases may be because some countries – moving in the direction of “living with Covid-19” – are no longer testing too often.

Of the greatest interest at the moment is the situation in China. The country has shown signs of improvement in recent days, even in Shanghai, because the peak of the epidemic has passed. However, China’s health sector faces a new challenge: a mental health crisis.

The Guardian newspaper cited statistics from WHO that up to 54 million people in China suffer from depression and 41 million people suffer from anxiety disorders. These two mental health problems have long been associated with Covid-19 and social distancing policies around the world, but are more severe in areas where the distance is prolonged, typically in countries that still pursue social distancing. policy “Zero Covid-19” like China. The country’s search engine Baidu recorded a spike in the keyword “psychological counseling” since March this year.

According to CNN, the strict Covid-19 prevention policy also risks damaging Hong Kong’s status as an aviation hub (China). Flights were repeatedly banned, resumed, then banned again. From April 20, 11 routes of 10 airlines were temporarily cut, including important routes from London (UK), Amsterdam (Netherlands). This disruption is believed to be related to a controversial regulation: If 3 or more passengers on a flight test positive for Covid-19 or do not have sufficient medical records, that route will be suspended. in 7 days.