India s virus cases lower but WHO expert says positive tests ominously high Reuters 2 hrs ago
NEW DELHI, May 17 (Reuters) - India on Monday reported a further decline in new coronavirus cases though daily deaths remained above 4,000 and experts warned that the count was unreliable due to a lack of testing in rural areas, where the virus is spreading fast.
For months now, nowhere in the world has been hit harder than India by the pandemic, as a new strain of the virus first found there fuelled a surge in infections that has risen to more than 400,000 daily.
Even with a downturn over the past few days, experts said there was no certainty that infections had peaked, with alarm growing both at home and abroad over the new more contagious B.1.617 variant taking hold.
WHO chief urges global cooperation in COVID-19 vaccine sharing as only choice Xinhua | Updated: 2021-05-12 13:58 World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva Switzerland, July 3, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
GENEVA - Global cooperation, instead of competition and confrontation, is the only choice to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday when addressing the disparity in access to vaccines worldwide. The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic, Tedros said at a press briefing.
Posted : 2021-05-11 11:30
Updated : 2021-05-11 11:30
Health workers and volunteers in personal protective suits wait to receive patients outside a COVID-19 hospital set up at a Sikh Gurdwara in New Delhi, May 10. AP-Yonhap
A COVID-19 variant spreading in India, which is facing an explosive outbreak, appears to be more contagious and has been classified as being of concern , the World Health Organization said Monday.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19 first found in India last October seemed to be transmitting more easily. There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of the B.1.617, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO s lead on COVID-19, told reporters.
COVID-19: Indian variant classified as matter of global concern by WHO
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Tuesday May 11, 2021
WHO Technical lead head COVID-19 Maria Van Kerkhove attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland July 3, 2020. REUTERS/File Photo
The B.1.617 variant is the fourth variant to be designated as being of global concern.
WHO says the predominant lineage of B.1.617 was first identified in India in December.
WHO s chief scientist says studies were under way in India to examine the variant s transmissibility.
GENEVA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday that the coronavirus variant first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.
WHO classifies triple-mutant Covid variant from India as global health risk
CNBC 5 days ago Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
A WHO official said Monday it is reclassifying the highly contagious triple-mutant Covid variant spreading in India as a variant of concern at the global level.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO s technical lead for Covid-19, said the agency will provide more details in its situation report Tuesday.
Triple-mutant Covid variant from India is now a potential global health risk
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A World Health Organization official said Monday it is reclassifying the highly contagious triple-mutant Covid variant spreading in India as a variant of concern, indicating that it s become a global health threat.