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'Potential tinderbox': Experts fear Covid trend could be 'explosive'

Covid-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for a return to normal life.

The World Health Organisation reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a three per cent increase from the week before.

Cases rose 10 per cent last week to nearly three million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.

The reversal has been attributed to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant, which WHO said has now been identified in 111 countries and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.

Doctors and nurses tend to a young man in ICU in Argentina. Source: EPA/AAP
Doctors and nurses work in an Intensive Care Unit in the Hospital of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Source: EPA/AAP

Sarah McCool, a professor of public health at Georgia State University, said the combination amounts to a “recipe for a potential tinderbox.”

“It’s important that we recognise that Covid has the potential for explosive outbreaks,” warned Dr David Dowdy, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University.

Countries see soaring Covid infections

Amid the surge, the death toll in hard-hit Argentina surpassed 100,000.

Daily coronavirus deaths in Russia hit record highs this week. In Belgium, Covid-19 infections, driven by the Delta variant among the young, have almost doubled over the past week.

Britain recorded a one-day total of more than 40,000 new cases for the first time in six months.

In Myanmar, crematoriums are working morning to night. In Indonesia, which recorded almost 1,000 deaths and over 54,000 new cases Wednesday, up from around 8,000 cases per day a month ago, people near Jakarta are pitching in to help gravediggers keep up.

“As the diggers are too tired and do not have enough resources to dig, the residents in my neighbourhood decided to help,” Jaya Abidin said.

“Because if we do not do this, we will have to wait in turn a long time for a burial.”

Undertakers wearing protective suits as a precaution lower the coffin of a Covid-19 victim for burial. Source: Sipa/AAP
Indonesia is battling an influx of Covid-19 cases following last month's Idul Fitri holiday. Source: Sipa/AAP

In the US, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, newly confirmed infections per day have doubled over the past two weeks to an average of about 24,000, though deaths are still on a downward trajectory at around 260 per day.

Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the US, reported its fifth straight day Tuesday of more than 1,000 new cases.

Tokyo is under a fourth state of emergency ahead of the Summer Games this month, with infections climbing fast and hospital beds filling up. Experts have said caseloads could rise above 1,000 before the Olympics and multiply to thousands during the games.

A police officer monitors a march in the UK. Source: Sipa/AAP
Britain recorded a one-day total of more than 40,000 new cases for the first time in six months. Source: Sipa/AAP

South Korea has placed the Seoul area under its toughest distancing rules yet because of record case levels.

Parts of Spain, including Barcelona, moved to impose an overnight curfew. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said masks will be required on buses and trains even after other restrictions in England are lifted next week. Italy warned all those going abroad that they might have to quarantine before returning home.

Almost 8,000 Covid deaths globally per day

As troubling as the figures are around the world, they are still well below the alarming numbers seen earlier this year.

Seven months into the vaccination drive, global deaths are down to around 7,900 a day, after topping out at over 18,000 a day in January, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Cases are running at around 450,000 a day, down by half since their peak in late April.

WHO acknowledged that many countries are now facing “considerable pressure” to lift all remaining precautions but warned that failing to do it the right way will just give the virus more opportunity to spread.

Pressure is growing worldwide to boost vaccination rates to counter the rise.

“If you have been waiting, if you have been on the fence, sign up and get that shot as soon as possible,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr Dave Chokshi pleaded.

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