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Supplement
No. 18May 23, 2020
COVID-19 Update
"One Thing Is Abundantly Clear.
The
World Must Never Be the Same."
-- WHO Director-General
• 73rd
Session
of World Health Assembly Held Virtually
• Grave
Health
Threat the Pandemic Poses to
Indigenous Peoples Around the
World
• Message
to
Ensure Indigenous Peoples Are Informed,
Protected and Prioritized
During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic
- Anne Nuorgam,
Chairperson, UN
Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues -
• "Every Worker Is
Essential and Must Be Protected
from COVID-19, No Matter What"
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights -
• Promotion of U.S.
Pharmaceutical Monopoly's Unproven
and Potentially Dangerous Treatment
• On the
Global Pandemic for Week Ending May 23
COVID-19 Update
World Health Assembly, May 18, 2020.
On
May 18 and 19, the World Health Assembly (WHA),
the decision-making
body
of the World Health Organization (WHO), was held
virtually. At the
meeting, a draft resolution titled "COVID-19
Response" was tabled,
calling for an "impartial" and
"independent" review of the WHO's actions
regarding the pandemic.
It was sponsored by 62 countries, including
Canada, but notably
not the United States. In his opening remarks to
the Assembly,
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus spoke to the
resolution proposed, saying, amongst other things:
"Every country and every organization must
examine its
response and learn from its experience.
"WHO is committed to transparency, accountability
and
continuous improvement. For us, change is a
constant.
"In fact, the existing independent accountability
mechanisms
are already in operation, since the pandemic
started.
"The Independent Oversight Advisory Committee has
today
published its first report on the pandemic, with
several
recommendations for both the Secretariat and
Member States.
"In that spirit, we welcome the proposed
resolution before
this Assembly, which calls for a step-wise process
of impartial,
independent and comprehensive evaluation.
"To be truly comprehensive, such an evaluation
must encompass
the entirety of the response by all actors, in
good faith.
"So, I will initiate an independent evaluation at
the earliest
appropriate moment to review experience gained and
lessons
learned, and to make recommendations to improve
national and
global pandemic preparedness and response.
"But one thing is abundantly clear. The world
must never be
the same.
"We do not need a review to tell us that we must
all do
everything in our power to ensure this never
happens again.
"Whatever lessons there are to learn from this
pandemic, the
greatest failing would be to not learn from them,
and to leave
the world in the same vulnerable state it was
before.
"If there is anything positive to come from this
pandemic, it
must be a safer and more resilient world.
"This is not a new message.
"Reviews after SARS, the H1N1 pandemic and the
West African
Ebola epidemic highlighted shortcomings in global
health
security, and made numerous recommendations for
countries to
address those gaps.
"Some were implemented; others went unheeded.
"The SARS outbreak gave rise to the revision of
the
International Health Regulations, in 2005;
"The H1N1 pandemic saw the creation of the
Pandemic Influenza
Preparedness Framework; and
"The Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 15 led
to the establishment of the Pandemic Emergency
Financing
Facility, the WHO Emergencies Programme and the
Independent
Oversight Advisory Committee.
"The world doesn't need another plan, another
system, another
mechanism, another committee or another
organization.
"It needs to strengthen, implement and finance
the systems and
organizations it has -- including WHO. Many
leaders who have
spoken today have raised these issues:
implementing, supporting
WHO, and financing.
"The world can no longer afford the short-term
amnesia that
has characterized its response to health security
for too
long.
"The time has come to weave together the
disparate strands of
global health security into an unbreakable chain
-- a
comprehensive framework for epidemic and pandemic
preparedness.
"The world does not lack the tools, the science,
or the
resources to make it safer from pandemics. What is
has lacked is
the sustained commitment to use the tools, the
science and the
resources it has.
"That must change, and it must change today.
"Today I am calling on all nations to resolve
that they will
do everything it takes to ensure that the 2020
coronavirus
pandemic is never repeated.
"I am calling on all nations to invest in
strengthening and
implementing the many tools at our disposal --
especially the
global treaty that underpins global health
security: the
International Health Regulations.
"To be successful, we must all commit to mutual
ownership and
accountability.
"One way to do that, proposed by the Africa Group
last year,
is through a system of universal periodic review,
in which
countries agree to a regular and transparent
review of each
nation's preparedness."
The World Health Assembly (WHA), the
decision-making body
of the World Health Organization (WHO) convened on
May 18 and 19.
Under normal circumstances, the WHA convenes over
a period of
three weeks and is "attended by delegations from
all WHO Member
States and focuses on a specific health agenda
prepared by the
Executive Board. The main functions of the World
Health Assembly
are to determine the policies of the Organization,
appoint the
Director-General, supervise financial policies,
and review and
approve the proposed program budget. The Health
Assembly is held
annually in Geneva, Switzerland." Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic,
this year's assembly was held virtually over two
days.
The provisional WHA agenda released on April 6
was as
follows:
1. Opening of the Health Assembly
1.1 Appointment of the Committee on Credentials
1.2 Election of the President
1.3 Election of the five Vice-Presidents, the
Chairs of the
main committees, and establishment of the General
Committee
1.4 Adoption of the agenda and allocation of
items to the main
committees
2. Report of the Executive Board on its
145th and 146th
session
3. Address by Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, WHO
Director-General
4. Invited speaker(s)
5. Admission of new Members and Associate
Members [if
any]
6. Executive Board: election
7. Awards
8. Reports of the main committees
9. Closure of the Health Assembly
Added to this agenda, was "COVID-19 Response" a
draft resolution calling for an "impartial" and
"independent" review of
the WHO's actions regarding the pandemic --
sponsored by 62
countries -- including Canada, but not the
United States. A
supplementary agenda item was also proposed by
several countries,
that Taiwan be invited to participate in the WHA
as an observer,
status which it had from 2009-2016.
On May 19, the draft resolution was brought
forward by the European Union
and moved by more than 100 countries and endorsed
by the WHA. It
does not single out any country but reiterates the
responsibilities of the WHO to its member
countries and the need
for all national governments to be accountable to
their citizens
and residents by providing the means to safeguard
public health
and safety, as well as the need for international
cooperation to
overcome the pandemic. Regarding the origin of the
novel
coronavirus, a matter for which the U.S., Canada
and others have been
trying to scapegoat China, it simply calls on the
WHO
Director-General to continue "to work closely with
the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and
Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and
countries, as part
of the One-Health Approach to identify the
zoonotic source of the
virus and the route of introduction to the human
population,
including the possible role of intermediate hosts,
including
through efforts such as scientific and
collaborative field
missions, which will enable targeted interventions
and a research
agenda to reduce the risk of similar events as
well as to provide
guidance on how to prevent SARS-COV2 infection in
animals and
humans and prevent the establishment of new
zoonotic reservoirs,
as well as to reduce further risks of emergence
and transmission
of zoonotic diseases."
The draft resolution further calls on the WHO
Director-General
to "Initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment,
and in
consultation with Member States, a stepwise
process of
impartial, independent and comprehensive
evaluation, including
using existing mechanisms, as appropriate, to
review
experience gained and lessons learned from the
WHO-coordinated
international health response to COVID-19."
In his closing remarks, Dr. Tedros thanked Member
States "for
adopting the resolution, which calls for an
independent and
comprehensive evaluation of the international
response --
including, but not limited to, WHO's performance.
"As I said yesterday, I will initiate such an
evaluation at
the earliest appropriate moment.
"We welcome any initiative to strengthen global
health
security, and to strengthen WHO, and to be more
safe.
"As always, WHO remains fully committed to
transparency,
accountability and continuous improvement. We want
accountability
more than anyone."
He stated that the WHO would continue to work
with all
countries and fulfill its mandate to provide all
countries with
the assistance required during the pandemic.
In April, President Trump conditionally withdrew
U.S. funding
for the WHO, in the order of $500 million per
year, accusing it
of failing in its basic duty in its response to
the coronavirus,
as part of U.S. attempts to shift the blame for
the COVID-19
crisis in the U.S. on to others. Trump reiterated
this blackmail
in a letter sent to Dr. Tedros on May 18, in which
he threatened
to permanently halt funding to the WHO, saying:
"My Administration has already started
discussions with you on
how to reform the organization. But action is
needed quickly. We
do not have time to waste. That is why it is my
duty, as
President of the United States, to inform you
that, if the World
Health Organization does not commit to major
substantive
improvements within the next 30 days, I will make
my temporary
freeze of United States funding to the World
Health Organization
permanent and reconsider our membership in the
organization. I
cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue
to finance an
organization that, in its present state, is so
clearly not
serving America's interests."
In contrast, while Trump did not deign to address
the WHA in
person, Chinese President Xi Jinping did so by
videoconference on
May 18. In his remarks, Xi backed global efforts
to overcome the
pandemic and the leadership role of the WHO. He
stated,
"China stands for the vision of building a
community with a
shared future for mankind. China takes it as its
responsibility
to ensure not just the life and health of its own
citizens, but
also global public health. For the sake of
boosting international
cooperation against COVID-19, I would like to
announce the
following:
"- China will provide U.S.$2 billion over two
years to help
with COVID-19 response and with economic and
social development
in affected countries, especially developing
countries.
"- China will work with the UN to set up a global
humanitarian
response depot and hub in China, ensure the
operation of
anti-epidemic supply chains and foster 'green
corridors' for
fast-track transportation and customs clearance.
"- China will establish a cooperation mechanism
for its
hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals and
accelerate the
building of the Africa [Centres for Disease
Control] headquarters to help the continent
ramp up its disease preparedness and control
capacity.
"- COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in
China, when
available, will be made a global public good. This
will be
China's contribution to ensuring vaccine
accessibility and
affordability in developing countries.
"- China will work with other G20 members to
implement the
Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the poorest
countries.
China is also ready to work with the international
community to
bolster support for the hardest-hit countries
under the greatest
strain of debt service, so that they could tide
over the current
difficulties."
Members of Chinese medical team in Italy to assist
with response to COVID-19, March 17, 2020.
 The United Nations'
Department of Economic and Social
Affairs, Indigenous Peoples is highlighting the
situation facing
Indigenous peoples around the world during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
On its website it states:
"The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses a
grave health
threat to Indigenous peoples around the world.
Indigenous
communities already experience poor access to
health care,
significantly higher rates of communicable and
non-communicable
diseases, lack of access to essential services,
sanitation, and
other key preventive measures, such as clean
water, soap,
disinfectant, etc. Likewise, most nearby local
medical
facilities, if and when there are any, are often
under-equipped
and under-staffed. Even when Indigenous peoples
are able to
access health care services, they can face stigma
and
discrimination. A key factor is to ensure these
services and
facilities are provided in Indigenous languages,
and as
appropriate to the specific situation of
Indigenous peoples.
"Indigenous peoples' traditional lifestyles are a
source of
their resiliency, and can also pose a threat at
this time in
preventing the spread of the virus. For example,
most Indigenous
communities regularly organize large traditional
gatherings to
mark special events (e.g. harvests, coming of age
ceremonies, etc.)
Some Indigenous communities also live in
multi-generational
housing, which puts Indigenous peoples and their
families,
especially the Elders, at risk.
"As the number of COVID-19 infections rises
worldwide, as well
as the high mortality rates among certain
vulnerable groups with
underlying health conditions, data on the rate of
infection in
Indigenous peoples are either not yet available
(even where
reporting and testing are available), or not
recorded by
ethnicity. Relevant information about infectious
diseases and
preventive measures is also not available in Indigenous
languages.
 "Indigenous peoples
experience a high degree of socio-economic
marginalization and are at disproportionate risk
in public health
emergencies, becoming even more vulnerable during
this global
pandemic, owing to factors such as their lack of
access to
effective monitoring and early-warning systems,
and adequate
health and social services.
"As lockdowns continue in numerous countries,
with no timeline
in sight, Indigenous peoples who already face food
insecurity, as
a result of the loss of their traditional lands
and territories,
confront even graver challenges in access to food.
With the loss
of their traditional livelihoods, which are often
land-based,
many Indigenous peoples who work in traditional
occupations and
subsistence economies or in the informal sector
will be adversely
affected by the pandemic. The situation of Indigenous women, who
are often the main providers of food and nutrition
to their
families, is even graver.
"Yet, Indigenous peoples are seeking their own
solutions to
this pandemic. They are taking action, and using
traditional
knowledge and practices such as voluntary
isolation, and sealing
off their territories, as well as preventive
measures -- in their
own languages."
- Anne Nuorgam, Chairperson, UN
Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues -
Indigenous artists from Mutitjulu, Australia
produce public health messages on COVID-19 using
traditional art forms.
Indigenous peoples live in both urban and rural
locals and
account today for over 476 million individuals
spread across 90
countries in the world, accounting for 6.2 per
cent of the global
population. Nonetheless, our communities are
nearly three times
as likely to be living in extreme poverty, and
thus more prone to
infectious diseases. Many Indigenous communities
are already
suffering from malnutrition and immune-suppressive
conditions,
which can increase susceptibility to infectious
diseases.
 The extent of the
devastating nature and potential of COVID-19
is uncertain. Member States must protect the most
vulnerable in
our global society. I urge you to take immediate
steps to ensure
that Indigenous peoples are informed, protected
and prioritized
during the COVID-19 global health pandemic. In
this respect,
information in Indigenous languages is important
to ensure it is
accessible and followed. Of special concern are
the vulnerable
chronically ill, those in medical fragility, as
well as the Indigenous elders. The Indigenous
elders are a priority for our
communities as our keepers of history and
traditions and
cultures. We also ask Member States to ensure that
Indigenous
peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact
exercise their
right to self-determination, and their decision to
be isolated be
respected. Further, States must prevent outsiders
from entering
into their territories. Any plan or protective
measures to
address Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation
and initial
contact should be multidisciplinary and follow
agreed protocols
and international recommendations such as the
recommendations of
the Inter American Commission on Human Rights.
These are uncertain times, and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues members
are exploring
different options to advance their mandate of
advising on Indigenous issues. The Permanent Forum is
committed and will work
for the future to ensure that Indigenous peoples
are engaged and
included in public health-related interventions.
We urge Member
States and the international community to include
the specific
needs and priorities of Indigenous peoples in
addressing the
global outbreak of COVID 19.
Indigenous peoples can contribute to seeking
solutions. Their
good practices of traditional healing and
knowledge, such as
sealing off communities to prevent the spread of
diseases and of
voluntary isolation, are being followed throughout
the world
today.
BC Indigenous nation blocks travel into its
territories to protect their people from
COVID-19.
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights -
As countries begin to ease recent
restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, a
group of UN human
rights experts call on Governments and businesses
to ensure all
workers are protected from exposure to COVID-19.
"No worker is expendable. Every worker is
essential, no matter
what category is applied to them by States or
businesses. Every
worker has the right to be protected from exposure
to hazards in
the workplace, including the coronavirus.
We are concerned at the number of frontline
workers who have
not been given adequate protection during peak
periods of
contagion in various countries and economic
sectors. And as
Governments continue to reduce restrictions and
workers begin to
return to work, we urge all States and businesses
to ensure
preventative and precautionary measures are in
place to protect
every worker.
We are also deeply concerned about the
disproportionate risk
presented to workers that are low-income,
minorities, migrants,
older persons and those with pre-existing health
conditions,
women, as well as the informal sector and those in
the 'gig'
economy.
"We urge States and businesses to work with
labour unions and
other worker representatives to help ensure
necessary safeguards
are in place.
Following our call at the International Labour
Conference in
2019, we welcome ongoing discussions on including
the right to
safe and healthy work as a fundamental right and
principle of the
International Labour Organization (ILO). However, it is
long overdue
that the ILO recognizes safe and healthy work and
we urge the
Organisation's governing body to acknowledge this
right without
further delay, along with other internationally
recognised human
rights.
Forcing vulnerable workers with little choice but
to endure
conditions that put them at risk, including by
dismantling
previously established labour rights, can
constitute a form of
forced labour, according to the ILO.
We express our respect and admiration to workers
on the
frontline of this pandemic, providing health care,
food, water,
sanitation, and other necessary goods and
services, and our
condolences to the families of those who have lost
loved ones in
such service.
Our message today is simple, but crucial: every
worker must be
protected, no matter what."
On May 12, the U.S. Big
Pharma corporation Gilead Sciences Inc. announced
that it had signed a licensing agreement
with a number of drug manufacturers to produce the
drug Remdesivir as a treatment for
COVID-19 in what it described as "low-income and
lower-middle-income countries." Gilead
also announced that they were in advanced
discussions with UNICEF "to utilize their
extensive experience providing medicines to low-
and middle-income countries during
emergency and humanitarian crises to deliver
Remdesivir using its well-established distribution
networks." The manufacturing companies who have
signed the deal with Gilead are Cipla,
Jubilant Lifesciences, and Hetero Labs from India;
Mylan, a Dutch-registered company whose
main office is in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania while
its board of directors meets in the United
Kingdom; and Ferozsons Labs from Pakistan. On the
announcement of the agreement, share
prices in Cipla and Jubilant Lifesciences rose.
The list of countries to which the licensees are
to supply Remdesivir include all the members of
the African Union.
Gilead Sciences Inc is one of the largest
pharmaceutical corporations in the USA, with
nearly
12,000 employees, assets in excess of U.S.$60
billion and annual sales of over U.S.$20
billion. Donald Rumsfeld, notorious warmonger from
the George Bush administration, was
chairman of the company from 1997 until he joined
the Bush government and is understood
to still hold shares in the company, while George
Schultz, who was the U.S. Secretary of
State under Ronald Reagan, continues to sit on its
board of directors. The corporation made
significant profits from its licensing deal with
Roche, the Swiss drug manufacturer, for the
production of Tamiflu as a treatment for the H1N1
swine flu, with its income from this
revenue stream jumping from U.S.$16 million in the
3rd quarter of 2008 to U.S.$194
million in the 4th quarter. The use of Tamiflu for
H1N1 swine flu turned out to be a complete
scandal with numerous governments denouncing the
waste of money spent on stocking up on
the drug, many doses of which were never used, and
with increasing alarm at some of its
more dangerous side effects.
Gilead's Remdesivir was originally developed as a
treatment for hepatitis C but was found to
be ineffective. It was later repurposed for use
against Ebola and Marburg virus disease but
was also found to be ineffective in treating these
conditions. Recently, Gilead have turned
their attention to using Remdesivir for treatment
of COVID-19. Between February and March
this year, clinical trials of the drug were
carried out in Hubei province in China. The study,
which involved 237 patients, was conducted as a
double-blinded, randomized control test and
its report was peer-reviewed and published in The
Lancet on April 29. Its principal
finding was that Remdesivir "was not associated
with a difference in time to clinical
improvement." It also noted that "Remdesivir was
stopped early because of adverse events in
18 (12 per cent) patients versus four (5 per cent)
patients who stopped placebo early."
However, on April 29, citing an incomplete
clinical trial in the USA and a report which had
not been peer-reviewed, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of
the U.S. government's National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Disease, declared that
Remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19 was
"quite good news" and that it set a new standard
of care for COVID-19 patients. Then on
May 1, Trump met in the White House with the CEO
of Gilead to announce that the U.S.
government's Food and Drug Administration had
granted emergency use authorization for
Gilead's Remdesivir drug to treat COVID-19. On
this basis, the drug will now enter into
production for use in Africa.
It is ironic that those who are demanding clinical
testing of Madagascar's herbal remedy for
COVID-19 and trashing its claims are remaining
silent in the face of Gilead's efforts to
unleash its unproven and potentially dangerous
COVID-19 drug treatment on people in
Africa.
Number of Cases Worldwide
As of May 23, the worldwide statistics for
COVID-19 pandemic
as reported by Worldometer were:
- Total reported cases: 5,320,834. This is
676,364 more than
the total reported on May 16 of 4,647,961. This
compares to the
increase in cases in the previous week of 642,306.
- Total active cases: 2,811,294. This is 243,311
more than the
number reported on May 16 of 2,567,983. The
increase in total
active cases compared to the previous week was
214,088.
- Closed cases: 2,513,031. This is 433,053 more
than the
number reported on May 16 of 2,079,978. This
compares to an
increase in the previous week of 428,218.
- Deaths: 340,261. This is 31,276 more deaths
than on May 16,
when the toll was 308,985. This compares to an
increase in the
previous week of 33,316.
- Recovered: 2,172,707. This is up 401,714 from
the May 16
figure of 1,770,993 and compares to an increase
the previous week
of 394,902 recoveries.
There were 107,716 new cases from May 21 to 22.
This is the
highest one day increase ever, underscoring the
ongoing
seriousness of the global situation, despite the
fact that some
countries have overcome the pandemic and others
have
significantly flattened the curve. This compares
to the one-day
increase in cases from May 14 to 15 of 99,405 new
cases.
The disease was present in 213 countries and
territories, the
same as the week prior. Of these, 48 countries had
less than 100
cases, as compared to May 16 when there were 52
countries with
less than 100 cases. There are 22
countries/territories without
active cases this week, up from 15 the previous
week. They are
Mauritius (332 cases; 322 recovered; 10 deaths);
Faeroe Islands
(187 cases, all recovered); Trinidad and Tobago
(116 cases; 108
recovered; 8 deaths); French Polynesia (60 cases,
all recovered);
Macao (45 cases; all recovered); Eritrea (39
cases, all
recovered); Timor-Leste (24 cases, all recovered);
Belize (18
cases; 16 recovered; 2 deaths); New Caledonia (18
cases, all
recovered); Saint Lucia (18 cases, all recovered);
Dominica (16
cases; all recovered); Saint Kitts and Nevis (15
cases, all
recovered); the Malvinas (13 cases, all
recovered); Montserrat
(11 cases, 10 recovered; 1 death); Greenland (11
cases; all
recovered); Seychelles (11 cases, all recovered);
Papua New
Guinea (8 cases; all recovered); Caribbean
Netherlands (6 cases;
all recovered); St. Barth (6 cases, all
recovered); Western
Sahara (6 cases, all recovered); Anguilla (3
cases, all
recovered); Saint Pierre et Miquelon (1 case,
recovered).
The five countries with the highest number of
cases on May 23
are noted below, accompanied by the number of
cases and deaths
per million population:
USA: 1,645,353 (1,144,470 active; 403,228
recovered;
97,655 deaths) and 4,974 cases per million; 295
deaths per
million
- May 16: 1,484,287 (1,068,029 active; 327,751
recovered; 88,507 deaths) and 4,488 cases per
million; 268 deaths
per million
Russia: 335,882 (224,558 active; 107,936
recovered;
3,388 deaths) and 2,302 cases per million; 23
deaths per
million
- May 16: 272,043 (206,340 active; 63,166
recovered;
2,537 deaths) and 1,801 cases per million; 17
deaths per
million
Brazil: 332,382 (175,836 active; 135,430
recovered;
21,116 deaths) and 1,565 cases per million; 99
deaths per
million
- May 16: 220,291 (120,359 active; 84,970
recovered;
14,962 deaths) and 1,037 cases per million; 70
deaths per
million
Spain: 281,904 (56,318 active; 196,958
recovered;
28,628 deaths) and 6,030 cases per million; 612 deaths per
million
- May 16: 274,367 (57,941 active; 188,967
recovered;
27,459 deaths) and 5,868 cases per million; 587
deaths per
million
UK: 254,195 (active and recovered N/A;
36,393 deaths)
and 3,747 cases per million; 536 deaths per
million
- May 16:
236,711 (active N/A; recovered N/A; 33,998 deaths)
and 3,489
cases per million; 501 deaths per million
The rate of new daily cases in the U.S. has
levelled off
somewhat at about 20,000, although it had 28,179
new cases on May
21. Russia, and especially Brazil, had a sharp
increase in the rate of new daily cases. Russia
added roughly 9,000 new
cases per day since May 16. Brazil had its highest
one day
increase of 21,472 new cases on May 20, and went
from the country
with the fifth highest number of cases to the
third highest in
the course of the past week. These three countries
alone account
for about half of the total number of new cases
per day in the
past week.
Cases in Top Five Countries by Region
In Europe on May 23, the three other European
countries with
the highest number of reported cases after Spain
and the UK,
listed above, are Italy, France and Germany:
Italy: 228,658 (59,322 active; 136,720
recovered;
32,616 deaths) and 3,781 cases per million; 539
deaths per
million
- May 16: 223,885 (72,070 active; 120,205
recovered;
31,610 deaths) and 3,702 cases per million; 523
deaths per
million
France: 182,219 (89,721 active; 64,209
recovered;
28,289 deaths) and 2,792 cases per million; 433 deaths per
million
- May 16: 179,506 (91,529 active; 60,448
recovered;
27,529 deaths) and 2,751 cases per million; 422
deaths per
million
Germany: 179,713 (12,361 active; 159,000
recovered;
8,352 deaths) and 2,146 cases per million; 100
deaths per
million
- May 16: 175,699 (15,998 active; 151,700
recovered;
8,001 deaths) and 2,098 cases per million; 96
deaths per
million
Italy continued to see a downward trend in the
novel
coronavirus infections as of May 22, almost three
weeks after the
end of its national lockdown. The numbers are
"encouraging,"
Health Minister Roberto Speranza tweeted on May
22. "They tell us
the country has withstood the initial reopening on
May 4."
However, he cautioned that Italians "must not
imagine that we
have won. Maximum caution is needed. It takes very
little to
nullify the sacrifices made so far."
Earlier in the day, Italy's National Institute of
Health (ISS)
President Silvio Brusaferro held a press
conference, where he
stated that "the epidemiological curve... clearly
shows it is
decreasing" and that "the number of asymptomatic
cases is
growing." This means that more and more swabs and
contact-tracing
activities are being carried out, he explained.
Brusaferro also
said that Italy's 20 regions can be divided into
"three speeds"
of infection since some have very few cases and
others have "a
significant number," but that "all are
decreasing."
Dr. Giovanni Rezza, former director of the ISS
Infectious
Diseases Department who is now Director-General
for Preventive
Health Care at the Ministry of Health said, "there
are two major
concerns" in passing from Phase One (lockdown) to
Phase Two
(post-lockdown): that people fail to follow
anti-virus protocols,
such as wearing masks and social distancing, and
that health
authorities fail to "quickly identify and contain"
any new
COVID-19 outbreaks.
In Britain, the government is finally introducing
a 14-day
quarantine for almost all international
travellers, beginning
June 8, with anyone breaking the rules facing a
$1,218 (a 1,000
pound) fine. The measure comes after hundreds of
thousands of
infections, tens of thousands of deaths, and the
government's
admission that it permitted hundreds of thousands
of air
passengers to enter the country without screening.
Spain's daily death toll from the novel
coronavirus was 56,
its health ministry said on May 22, the sixth
consecutive day of
less than 100 deaths. The government announced on
May 22 that
lockdown measures would start to be relaxed in all
regions as of
May 25. Presently, Madrid, Barcelona and parts of
Castile and
Leon, that have been especially hard-hit by
COVID-19, are the
only places in Spain that remain under strict
lockdowns. In these
regions, making up 53 per cent of Spain's
population, people will
be able to sit at outdoor bar and restaurant
terraces, attend
gatherings of up to 10 people and go to houses of
worship. The
rest of the country will operate with even more
relaxed measures,
with cinemas, indoor restaurants and malls able to
open with
limited capacity.
In France, local elections will take place on
June 28, in a
second round postponed from March 22, under the
proviso that
there isn't a spike in infections in the meantime,
the government
has announced. "After weighing the pros and cons,
we believe that
our democratic life must resume," Prime Minister
Edouard Philippe
said at a press conference. Masks will be
compulsory, and
citizens visiting the polls will also be urged to
come with their
own pens for signing registries.
In Eurasia on May 23, Russia tops the list of
five countries
with the highest cases in the region, with the
figures reported
above, followed by:
Turkey: 154,500 (34,113 active; 116,111
recovered;
4,276 deaths) and 1,834 cases per million; 51
deaths per
million
- May 16: 146,457 (36,269 active; 106,133
recovered;
4,055 deaths) and 1,739 cases per million; 48
deaths per
million
Kazakhstan: 7,919 (3,788 active; 4,096
recovered; 35
deaths) and 422 cases per million; 2 deaths per
million
- May
16: 5,850 (3,109 active; 2,707 recovered; 34
deaths) and 312
cases per million; 2 deaths per million
Armenia: 6,302 (3,289 active; 2,936
recovered; 77
deaths) and 2,127 cases per million; 26 deaths per
million
- May 16: 4,283 (2,437 active; 1,791 recovered; 55
deaths) and 1,446 cases per million; 19 deaths per
million
Azerbaijan: 3,855 (1,410 active; 2,399
recovered; 46
deaths) and 381 cases per million; 5 deaths per
million
- May
16: 2,980 (1,058 active; 1,886 recovered; 36
deaths) and 294
cases per million; 4 deaths per million
Amidst a rapidly rising number of infections,
Russia should
expect to see a significant increase in death rate
for this
month's figures, officials said on May 22. "There
will be a
significant mortality increase in May," Deputy
Prime Minister
Tatiana Golikova said at a government meeting with
President
Vladimir Putin. "The illness and chronic
conditions don't always
have a positive ending," Golikova said. Moscow
Mayor Sergei
Sobyanin also said the capital's death toll for
May would be
"considerably higher than in April." His deputy
Anastasia Rakova
later explained that "the peak of mortality is
usually delayed by
two to three weeks after the peak of
hospitalizations" for
COVID-19. Official statements and news reports in
more than 70
Russian regions show that at least 9,479 medical
workers have
been infected with the virus in the past month,
and more than 70
have died. As in other countries, statistics are
likely to be an
underestimate, as a consistent criteria and
methodology for
attributing deaths to COVID-19 have not been
implemented. As in
other countries like the U.S. and Canada, news
agencies report
that Russian health care workers lack personal
protective
equipment and face reprisals for speaking out
about their unsafe
working conditions.
Despite the still high daily rate of new
infections of roughly
9,000, President Vladimir Putin said on May 22
that the
coronavirus outbreak in Russia has begun to abate,
creating a
positive environment for easing restrictions. The
daily rate of
news cases peaked at 11,656 on May 11, and on May
21 was 8,849.
Speaking during a video conference with top
officials, Putin
cited a decreasing number of new infections in
Moscow and other
regions. "The positive dynamic is not so fast as
we would like it
to be, sometimes even unstable, but it does
exist," he said. He
said a steady drop in new cases sets the stage for
further
lifting of restrictions, but he also emphasized
the need to
preserve hospital capacity in case of a new wave
of contagion.
Officials reported that the influx of COVID-19
patients,
particularly those in grave condition, has fallen.
Putin noted
that the country's hospitals are capable of
accommodating over
165,000 coronavirus patients, and they are
currently two-thirds
occupied.
In West Asia on May 23:
Iran: 133,521 (22,090 active; 104,072
recovered; 7,359
deaths) and 1,592 cases per million; 88 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 118,392 (18,308 active; 93,147 recovered;
6,937 deaths)
and 1,412 cases per million; 83 deaths per million
Saudi Arabia: 67,719 (28,352 active;
39,003 recovered;
364 deaths) and 1,949 cases per million; 10 deaths
per
million
- May 16: 52,016 (28,048 active; 23,666 recovered;
302
deaths) and 1,497 cases per million; 9 deaths per
million
Qatar: 40,481 (32,569 active; 7,893
recovered; 19
deaths) and 14,078 cases per million; 7 deaths per
million
- May 16: 30,972 (27,169 active; 3,788 recovered;
15
deaths) and 10,774 cases per million; 5 deaths per
million
UAE: 27,892 (13,853 active; 13,798
recovered; 241
deaths) and 2,824 cases per million; 24 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 21,831 (14,293 active; 7,328 recovered;
210 deaths) and
2,211 cases per million; 21 deaths per million
Kuwait: 19,564 (13,911 active; 5,515
recovered; 138
deaths) and 4,589 cases per million; 32 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 13,802 (9,852 active; 3,843 recovered; 107
deaths) and
3,237 cases per million; 25 deaths per million
Coronavirus is believed to be spreading
throughout Yemen,
where the health care system "has in effect
collapsed," the
United Nations said on May 22, appealing for
urgent funding.
Referring to aid agencies, Jens Laerke, spokesman
for the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), told
a Geneva briefing: "We hear from many of them that
Yemen is
really on the brink right now. The situation is
extremely
alarming, they are talking about that the health
system has in
effect collapsed." "They are talking about having
to turn people
away because they do not have enough (medical)
oxygen, they do
not have enough personal protective equipment," he
said. As of
May 22, Yemen had reported 184 cases and 30
deaths. "The actual
incidence is almost certainly much higher," Laerke
said.
In South Asia on May 23:
India: 126,308 (70,296 active; 52,258
recovered; 3,754
deaths) and 92 cases per million; 3 deaths per
million
- May
16: 86,595 (53,049 active; 30,786 recovered; 2,760
deaths) and 63
cases per million; 2 deaths per million
Pakistan: 52,437 (34,683 active; 16,653
recovered;
1,101 deaths) and 238 cases per million; 5 deaths
per
million
- May 16: 38,799 (27,085 active; 10,880 recovered;
834
deaths) and 176 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million
Bangladesh: 32,078 (25,140 active; 6,486
recovered; 452
deaths) and 195 cases per million; 3 deaths per
million
- May
16: 20,995 (16,564 active; 4,117 recovered; 314
deaths) and 128
cases per million; 2 deaths per million
Afghanistan: 9,998 (8,742 active; 1,040
recovered; 216
deaths) and 258 cases per million; 6 deaths per
million
- May
16: 6,402 (5,489 active; 745 recovered; 168
deaths) and 165 cases
per million; 4 deaths per million
Sri Lanka: 1,068 (399 active; 660
recovered; 9 deaths)
and 50 cases per million; 0.4 deaths per million
- May 16: 936
(407 active; 520 recovered; 9 deaths) and 44 cases
per million;
0.4 deaths per million
India has registered some 6,568 new cases of the
novel
coronavirus on May 22, its largest one-day
increase. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi extended a lockdown, that
started on March
25, to May 31, but restrictions have been eased in
areas with
lower numbers of cases, while state governments
have been
permitted to issue their own guidelines on some
matters.
The state of Kerala is one such region where
cases have been
low. It has 691 cases, three deaths and the
highest recovery rate,
nearly 90 per cent, in India, Al Jazeera reports.
Al Jazeera
interviewed Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of
Kerala, to find
out how the state's communist party government
achieved this
result. Vijayan noted that:
"First and foremost, it is the resolute support
extended by
the people of Kerala in the fight against COVID-19
that has
helped the state to emerge on top of the
situation. The state's
early preparedness, focused health care
interventions led by our
public health system, effective lockdown measures
assisted by law
enforcement agencies, a special economic package
well in advance,
timely assistance for migrant labourers,
decentralized
initiatives through the local self-governments
especially in
taking care of those under quarantine and
inter-departmental
coordination, and so on have served as the pillars
of the Kerala
model against this pandemic.
"Home quarantining of suspect cases, contact
tracing of
positive cases, adequate testing and specialized
treatment have
all ensured that positive cases have been treated
effectively and
cured. In a nutshell, all these have paved the way
for our
success in containing the virus.
[...]
"Kerala has been able to tackle the health
emergency
effectively because of our robust public health
care system.
COVID-19 has proved to the world that public
health systems are
absolutely essential. The synergy between our
health services,
forces and local governments have ensured that
measures for both
prevention and cure have been in tandem with one
another. All
these together, ensured that by the time we
flattened the curve,
Kerala had the highest recovery rate and one of
the lowest death
rates in the world."
Regarding the measures taken in Kerala to
mitigate the migrant
crisis precipitated by the lockdown imposed by the
central
government, Vijayan explained:
"The lockdown is a means to limit interaction
between people
so that the transmission of the virus can be
curtailed. However,
it is not a magic wand that can be waved to
address the health
emergency at hand. We will have to supplement it
with identifying
suspect cases, quarantining them, conducting
adequate tests,
treating positive cases and tracing their
contacts. This is a
cyclical exercise that has to be continued till
all those under
treatment are cured and all those under quarantine
are
ascertained to be negative.
"Under a lockdown, people are forced to give up
their
livelihoods and the most adversely affected ones
would be the
daily wage labourers. Almost all of the guest
workers in Kerala
are wage labourers. To ensure that they strictly
adhere to the
lockdown protocols, their needs will have to be
met. It is the
duty of the state to ensure that their needs are
met. Kerala did
that. We arranged relief camps for them, with
adequate health
care support and supplies for personal hygiene.
Based on their
preference, we provided cooked food or essential
materials to
cook with. When travel was allowed by the central
government, we
even arranged for their travel back to their home
states. Over
300,000 guest workers have been assisted through
around 20,000
camps during this period."
In Southeast Asia on May 23:
Singapore: 31,068 (18,050 active; 12,995
recovered; 23
deaths) and 5,315 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 27,356 (20,087 active; 7,248 recovered; 21
deaths) and
4,681 cases per million; 4 deaths per million
Indonesia: 21,745 (15,145 active; 5,249
recovered;
1,351 deaths) and 80 cases per million; 5 deaths
per million
-
May 16: 17,025 (12,025 active; 3,911 recovered;
1,089 deaths) and
62 cases per million; 4 deaths per million
Philippines: 13,777 (9,737 active; 3,177
recovered; 863
deaths) and 126 cases per million; 8 deaths per
million
- May
16: 12,305 (8,927 active; 2,561 recovered; 817
deaths) and 112
cases per million; 7 deaths per million
Malaysia: 7,185 (1,158 active; 5,912
recovered; 115
deaths) and 222 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million
- May
16: 6,872 (1,247 active; 5,512 recovered; 113
deaths) and 213
cases per million; 3 deaths per million
Thailand: 3,040 (68 active; 2,916
recovered; 56 deaths)
and 44 cases per million; 0.8 deaths per million
- May 16:
3,025 (114 active; 2,855 recovered; 56 deaths) and
43 cases per
million; 0.8 deaths per million
In East Asia on May 23:
China: 82,971 (79 active; 78,258
recovered; 4,634
deaths) and 58 cases per million; 3 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 82,941 (89 active; 78,219 recovered; 4,633
deaths) and 58
cases per million; 3 deaths per million
Japan: 16,513 (2,712 active; 13,005
recovered; 796
deaths) and 131 cases per million; 6 deaths per
million
- May
16: 16,203 (5,152 active; 10,338 recovered; 713
deaths) and 128
cases per million; 6 deaths per million
South Korea: 11,165 (705 active; 10,194
recovered; 266
deaths) and 218 cases per million; 5 deaths per
million
- May
16: 11,037 (924 active; 9,851 recovered; 262
deaths) and 215
cases per million; 5 deaths per million
Taiwan: 441 (23 active; 411 recovered; 7
deaths) and 19
cases per million; 0.3 deaths per million
- May 16: 440 (44
active; 389 recovered; 7 deaths) 18 cases per
million; 0.3 deaths
per million
On May 18, the Chinese city of Shulan, a
municipality of
700,000 people in Jilin province in the northeast
of the country,
was placed under strict lockdown after 19 new
cases of COVID-19
were detected since May 7, according to a report
from China
Daily. Residential areas of Shulan with
positive or suspected
positive cases of the virus have been quarantined,
with personnel
assigned to prevent people from entering or
exiting those areas, China Daily reported.
Citing an announcement from local
disease control officials, China Daily
said supermarkets
will deliver "daily necessities" to communities
under isolation.
In areas where cases of the new coronavirus have
not been
identified, the expanded restrictions issued May
18 allow one
member of each household to purchase food or other
products every
two days. Shulan's health authorities believe the
recent virus
transmissions are connected to a 45-year-old woman
with COVID-19.
Investigations into how she contracted the disease
are underway,
given her lack of travel history or known
exposure.
In North America on May 23:
USA: 1,645,353 (1,144,470 active; 403,228
recovered;
97,655 deaths) and 4,974 cases per million; 295
deaths per
million
- May 16: 1,484,287 (1,068,029 active; 327,751
recovered; 88,507 deaths) and 4,488 cases per
million; 268 deaths
per million
Canada: 82,480 (33,636 active; 42,594
recovered; 6,250
deaths) and 2,187 cases per million; 166 deaths
per million
-
May 16: 74,613 (32,156 active; 36,895 recovered;
5,562 deaths)
and 1,979 cases per million; 148 deaths per
million
Mexico: 62,527 (12,813 active; 42,725
recovered; 6,989
deaths) and 486 cases per million; 54 deaths per
million
- May
16: 45,032 (9,814 active; 30,451 recovered; 4,767
deaths) and 350
cases per million; 37 deaths per million
In the U.S., where the situation remains dire
politically and
from a health perspective, various pandemic
restrictions are
nonetheless being lifted despite the conditions to
safely do so
not having been met, with the predictable result
that new
outbreaks are occurring, that could extend the
crisis facing the
country. The Washington Post reported on
May 22:
"All states and U.S. territories have eased
restrictions on
businesses and social activity, trying to restart
economies
battered by the novel coronavirus pandemic and
weeks of
stay-at-home orders that affected some 315 million
Americans.
"Public health experts warn that this increased
activity is
likely to cause a surge of new infections. 'There
is a real risk
that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not
be able to
control' by reopening too quickly, said
infectious-disease expert
Anthony S. Fauci in Senate testimony May 12,
'leading to some
suffering and death that could be avoided.'
"Cases continue to rise in some of the states
where governors
have been most aggressive in opening public spaces
and businesses
that rely on close personal contact, such as
salons and gyms.
None have met the federal government's core
recommendation of a
two-week decline in reported cases."
Regarding the failure of U.S. authorities to heed
the guidance
of the WHO and the experience of other countries
including China
by taking action in a timely manner, a recent
study from
researchers at Columbia University stated that if
broad lockdown
and social distancing measures had been imposed a
week earlier,
"the United States could have prevented 36,000
deaths through
early May -- about 40 per cent of fatalities
reported to date,"
the Washington Post reported.
In Canada, the total number of cases has now
reached virtually
the same number as China, with a higher number of
deaths, despite
Canada's much smaller population. To put things
further in
perspective, in the Americas, Canada has the
fourth highest
number of cases, the fifth highest number of cases
per million
population, and the third highest number of deaths
per million
population. The rate of new daily cases has been
more than 1,000
since March 30, with an all-time high reached on
May 3 of 2,760
cases. As of May 22, Quebec has the highest number
of cases at
46,141; followed by Ontario with 24,628; Alberta
with 6,800;
British Columbia with 2,507; Nova Scotia with
1,048; Saskatchewan
with 627; Manitoba with 292; Newfoundland and
Labrador with 260;
New Brunswick with 121; Prince Edward Island with
27; the Yukon
with 11; and the Northwest Territories with five.
Nunavut has no
cases.
In Central America and the Caribbean on May 23:
Dominican Republic: 13,989 (5,961 active;
7,572
recovered; 456 deaths) and 1,291 cases per
million; 42 deaths
per million
- May 16: 11,739 (7,758 active; 3,557 recovered;
424 deaths) and 1,084 cases per million; 39 deaths
per
million
Panama: 10,267 (3,697 active; 6,275
recovered; 295
deaths) and 2,384 cases per million; 68 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 9,268 (2,922 active; 6,080 recovered; 266
active) and
2,152 cases per million; 62 deaths per million
Honduras: 3,477 (2,871 active; 439
recovered; 167
deaths) and 352 cases per million; 17 deaths per
million
- May
16: 2,460 (2,062 active; 264 recovered; 134
deaths) and 249 cases
per million; 14 deaths per million
Guatemala: 2,743 (2,470 active; 222
recovered; 51
deaths) and 153 cases per million; 3 deaths per
million
- May
16: 1,643 (1,478 active; 135 recovered; 30 deaths)
and 92 cases
per million; 2 deaths per million
Cuba: 1,916 (204 active; 1,631 recovered;
81 deaths)
and 169 cases per million; 7 deaths per million
- May 16:
1,840 (336 active; 1,425 recovered; 79 deaths) and
162 cases per
million; 7 deaths per million
In South America on May 23:
Brazil: 332,382 (175,836 active; 135,430
recovered;
21,116 deaths) and 1,565 cases per million; 99
deaths per
million
- May 16: 220,291 (120,359 active; 84,970
recovered;
14,962 deaths) and 1,037 cases per million; 70
deaths per
million
Peru: 111,698 (63,606 active; 44,848
recovered; 3,244
deaths) and 3,393 cases per million; 99 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 84,495 (54,956 active; 27,147 recovered;
2,392 deaths)
and 2,567 cases per million; 73 deaths per million
Chile: 61,857 (35,885 active; 25,342
recovered; 630
deaths) and 3,239 cases per million; 33 deaths per
million
- May 16: 39,542
(22,534 active; 16,614 recovered; 394 deaths) and
2,071 cases per
million; 21 deaths per million
Ecuador: 35,828 (29,215 active; 3,557
recovered; 3,056
deaths) and 2,034 cases per million; 174 deaths
per million
-
May 16: 31,467 (25,440 active; 3,433 recovered;
2,594 deaths) and
1,787 cases per million; 147 deaths per million
Colombia: 19,131 (13,874 active; 4,575
recovered; 682
deaths) and 376 cases per million; 13 deaths per
million
- May
16: 14,216 (10,210 active; 3,460 recovered; 546
deaths) and 280
cases per million; 11 deaths per million
South America has become an "epicentre" of the
COVID-19
pandemic with Brazil the hardest hit country, the
World Health
Organization's Mike Ryan said on May 22. Brazil
surpassed 20,000
deaths on May 21, with a record high of 1,188
daily deaths. There
were 966 deaths on May 22, but overall the death
rate is
trending upwards. According to data from Brazil's
health
ministry, the number of deaths doubled in 11 days.
Despite the
situation, President Jair Bolsonaro on May 21
continued to call
for lockdown measures imposed by state and
municipal governments
to be lifted.
"Sao Paulo state, the economic and cultural
capital of Brazil,
is by far the most affected, with about a quarter
of the
country's deaths and infections," Agence France
Presse reported
on May 22. "Hospitals in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
and various
states across northern and northeastern Brazil are
near
collapse.
"The authorities have been racing to set up field
hospitals
with more beds, but are struggling to build them
fast
enough."
In Africa on May 23:
South Africa: 20,125 (9,624 active; 10,104
recovered;
397 deaths) and 340 cases per million; 7 deaths
per million
-
May 16: 13,524 (7,194 active; 6,083 recovered; 247
deaths) and
228 cases per million; 4 deaths per million
Egypt: 15,786 (10,705 active; 4,374
recovered; 707
deaths) and 155 cases per million; 7 deaths per
million
- May
16: 11,228 (7,837 active; 2,799 recovered; 592
deaths) and 110
cases per million; 6 deaths per million
Algeria: 7,918 (3,080 active; 4,256
recovered; 582
deaths) and 181 cases per million; 13 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 6,629 (2,822 active; 3,271 recovered; 536
deaths) and 152
cases per million; 12 deaths per million
Morocco: 7,375 (2,605 active; 4,573
recovered; 197
deaths) and 200 cases per million; 5 deaths per
million
- May
16: 6,681 (3,014 active; 3,475 recovered; 192
deaths) and 181
cases per million; 5 deaths per million
Nigeria: 7,261 (5,033 active; 2,007
recovered; 221
deaths) and 35 cases per million; 1 death per
million
- May
16: 5,621 (3,973 active; 1,172 recovered; 176
deaths) and 27
cases per million; 0.9 deaths per million
The number of coronavirus cases in Africa has
surpassed
100,000, the WHO has said, with infections
reported in every
country on the continent. That is up from 80,171
cases on May 16.
In a May 22 press release, the WHO Africa stated:
"Despite crossing this threshold, the pandemic,
which has
struck with such devastating force in much of the
world, appears
to be taking a different pathway in Africa. Case
numbers have not
grown at the same exponential rate as in other
regions and so far
Africa has not experienced the high mortality seen
in some parts
of the world. Today, there are 3,100 confirmed
deaths on the
continent.
"By comparison, when cases reached 100,000 in the
World Health
Organization (WHO) European region, deaths stood
at more than
4,900. Early analysis by WHO suggests that
Africa's lower
mortality rate may be the result of demography and
other possible
factors. Africa is the youngest continent
demographically with
more than 60 per cent of the population under the
age of 25.
Older adults have a significantly increased risk
of developing a
severe illness. In Europe nearly 95 per cent of
deaths occurred
in those older than 60 years.
"African governments have made difficult
decisions and were
quick to impose confinement measures, including
physical and
social distancing, which will have significant
socio-economic
costs. These measures, which along with contact
tracing, isolation, and increased hand washing
have helped to slow
down the spread of the virus.
"'For now COVID-19 has made a soft landfall in
Africa, and the
continent has been spared the high numbers of
deaths which have
devastated other regions of the world,' said Dr
Matshidiso Moeti,
WHO Regional Director for Africa. 'It is possible
our youth
dividend is paying off and leading to fewer
deaths. But we must
not be lulled into complacency as our health
systems are fragile
and are less able to cope with a sudden increase
in cases.'
"The continent has made significant progress in
testing with
around 1.5 million COVID-19 tests conducted so
far. However,
testing rates remain low and many countries
continue to require
support to scale-up testing. There is a need to
expand the
testing capacity in urban, semi-urban and rural
areas, and
provide additional test kits.
"Cases continue to rise in Africa and while
overall it took 52
days to reach the first 10,000 cases, it took only
11 days to
move from 30,000 to 50,000 cases. About half of
the countries in
Africa are experiencing community transmission.
More than 3,400
health care workers have been infected by
COVID-19. It is
important that health authorities prioritize the
protection of
health care workers from COVID-19 infection at
medical facilities
and communities. There is also a need to provide
enough personal
protective equipment to health care workers and
raise their
awareness as well as increase infection prevention
and control in
health facilities.
"'Testing as many people as possible and
protecting health
workers who come into contact with suspected and
confirmed cases
are crucial aspects of this response. Despite
global shortages,
we are working hard to prioritize the delivery of
testing kits
and personal protective equipment to low- and
middle-income
countries that have the most vulnerable
populations, based on the
number of cases reported,' said Dr Ahmed
Al-Mandhari, WHO
Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
"Despite the relatively lower number of COVID-19
cases in
Africa, the pandemic remains a major threat to the
continent's
health systems. A new modelling study by WHO
predicts that if
containment measures fail, even with a lower
number of cases
requiring hospitalization than elsewhere, the
medical capacity in
much of Africa would be overwhelmed.
"Now that countries are starting to ease their
confinement
measures, there is a possibility that cases could
increase
significantly, and it is critical that governments
remain
vigilant and ready to adjust measures in line with
epidemiological data and proper risk assessment.
In Oceania on May 23:
Australia: 7,111 (515 active; 6,494
recovered; 102
deaths) and 279 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million
-
May 16: 7,036 (576 active; 6,362 recovered; 98
deaths) and 276
cases per million; 4 deaths per million
New Zealand: 1,504 (28 active; 1,455
recovered; 21
deaths) and 312 cases per million; 4 deaths per
million
- May
16: 1,498 (49 active; 1,428 recovered; 21 deaths)
and 311 cases
per million; 4 deaths per million
Guam: 160 cases (5 deaths)
- May 16: 149 (5
deaths)
French Polynesia: 60 (all recovered) and
214 cases per million
- May
16: 60 (1 active; 59 recovered) and 214 cases per
million
New Caledonia: 18 (all recovered)
- May 16: 18 (all
recovered)
(To access articles
individually click on
the black headline.)
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