Nepal is seeing hospitals quickly filling up and running out of oxygen supplies. Health facilities are under pressure in Thailand, where 98 per cent of new cases are from a more infectious strain of the pathogen, while some island nations in the Pacific Ocean are facing their first Covid waves. Although nowhere close to India s population or flare-up in scope, the reported spikes in these handful of nations have been far steeper, signalling the potential dangers of an uncontrolled spread. The resurgence – and first-time outbreaks in some places that largely avoided the scourge last year – heightens the urgency of delivering vaccine supplies to poorer, less influential countries and averting a protracted pandemic.
Tim Dennell / Flickr cc
A study of more than 17 million adults in England adds to a large body of evidence indicating that, compared with White populations, racial minorities have borne a heavier burden of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and deaths.
Led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and published late last week in
The Lancet, the observational study involved the electronic health records of patients registered with primary care practices during the pandemic s first (Feb 1 to Aug 3) and second (Sep 1 to Dec 31) wave in 2020.
Among the 17,288,532 community-dwelling adults representing about 40% of the English population, 62.9% were White, 5.9% were South Asian, 2.0% were Black, 1.0% were mixed race, 1.9% were of other race, and 26.3% didn t indicate their race.
(May 4): It’s not just India. Fierce new Covid-19 waves are enveloping other developing countries across the world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and prompting appeals for help.
Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in Southeast Asia, and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been reporting significant surges in infections in the past few weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain the spread have also been cited as reasons.
In Laos last week, the health minister sought medical equipment, supplies and treatment, as cases jumped more than 200-fold in a month. Nepal is seeing hospitals quickly filling up and running out of oxygen supplies. Health facilities are under pressure in Thailand, where 98% of new cases are from a more infectious strain of the pathogen, while some island nations in the Pacific Ocean are facing their first Covid waves.
May 4, 2021
Fierce new COVID-19 waves are enveloping developing countries across the world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and prompting appeals for help.
From Laos and Thailand, in Southeast Asia, to those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, nations have been reporting significant surges in infections in the past few weeks.
The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain the spread have also been cited.
In Laos last week, the health minister sought medical equipment, supplies and treatment, as cases jumped more than two-hundredfold in a month. Nepal is seeing hospitals quickly filling up and running out of oxygen supplies.
BANGALORE (BLOOMBERG) - It s not just India. Fierce new Covid-19 waves are enveloping other developing countries across the world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and prompting appeals for help.
Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in South-east Asia, and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been reporting significant surges in infections in the past few weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain the spread have also been cited as reasons.
In Laos last week, the health minister sought medical equipment, supplies and treatment, as cases jumped more than 200-fold in a month.