The World Health Organization’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom, hailed the lowest global weekly death toll since March 2020, with “just over 15,000 deaths” reported to the United Nations’ health body.
He nonetheless cautions that the pandemic “caused severe disruptions to routine immunisation programmes,” “opening the door to fresh outbreaks of measles and polio,” and also confirms that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 outbreak in China continues, with a weeklong spread in Beijing adding to Shanghai’s already high death toll, sending the stock market crashing.
The number of symptomatic cases in Shanghai increased by 2,472, while the death toll increased by 51, prompting the authorities to request another mass test on April 26 for all inhabitants.
According to health officials, the Omicron virus has been spreading unnoticed in Beijing for almost a week.
On the other hand, Beijing has begun widespread testing of its citizens as part of an extraordinary plan to track down and stop omicron’s spread before it becomes uncontrollable in the Chinese capital.
Nearly 20 million individuals will be tested for COVID-19 over the weekend as Beijing’s city administration expands an effort that began in the eastern Chaoyang district, which has seen the majority of cases in the recent flare-up.
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(With inputs from agencies)
