According to a number of foreign media reports on November 1, less than two years after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the cumulative number of new crown deaths in the world has exceeded 5 million. Although vaccinations have taken place around the world, it has not prevented another "dark hour" from coming. And, in the face of the virus, poor and rich countries have not been spared.
Real data may be higher
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University on November 1, as of 3:21 EST on the 1st (15:21 Beijing time on the 1st), the cumulative number of new crown deaths worldwide exceeded 5 million.
The Guardian notes that this figure exceeds almost all viral epidemics of the 21st and 20th centuries, with the exception of the 1918 Spanish flu.
The Oslo Peace Institute estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is comparable to the number of deaths in wars across countries since 1950. Globally, COVID-19 has become the third leading cause of death in humans after heart disease and stroke.
Some agency experts believe that the true death data may be 2-3 times higher than the official statistics. In some countries and regions, testing capacity is limited, and some people die at home without medical care.
Ariel Karlinsky, a member of who's Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Death Statistics, argues that the 5 million milestone is actually "a long time ago", with a key indicator of the sharp rise in the number of "additional deaths" in some countries. He expects the global real outbreak death toll to be "at least 10 million people" at the moment. Especially in India and many African countries, COVID-19 death tolls can be vastly underestimated.
Shame on rich countries
By country, the United States has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, with more than 745,000 Americans losing their lives. It is followed by India, which has a cumulative covid-19 death toll of 458,000.
The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Brazil, together account for one-eighth of the world's population, represent nearly half of the world's deaths. These countries are all middle- and high-income or high-income areas, but they have not been able to effectively control the development of the epidemic.
Wafaa El-Sadr, director of the Center for Global Health at Columbia University, said: "What is unique about this pandemic is that it hits countries with abundant resources the hardest. That's the irony of COVID-19. ”
Sadr explained that longer life expectancy in richer countries means that these countries have a larger proportion of elderly populations, cancer survivors and nursing home residents, and these groups are more vulnerable to the new crown virus. Poorer countries have more children, adolescents and young people and are less likely to cause severe illness.
The Associated Press wrote that the new crown epidemic has not only hit poor countries hard, but also humiliated rich countries. Rich countries have higher vaccination rates and much better health care systems than poor countries, but they have not stopped the tragedy. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that there seems to be no link between wealth and health, which is worth pondering.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a written statement: "This devastating milestone reminds us that much of the world has failed. "It's a global disgrace," he said.
The outbreak has not stopped
As the global COVID-19 pandemic crosses painful "milestones", people are more concerned about when these "dark moments" will usher in the light.
According to Johns Hopkins University, despite 581 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine registered worldwide, 197,000 people have died and 11.7 million new cases have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. Among them, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine have the largest number of new cases.
As the epidemic unfolds, hotspots are constantly changing. Recently, there has been a surge in the number of cases in some Eastern European countries with low vaccination rates. In Asia, some countries, such as Thailand, have reopened to international tourists who have been vaccinated.
Public health experts point out that vaccines are still one of the most effective ways to fight the virus. A recently released UK study showed that vaccination is more durable than covid-19. Previous studies have also pointed out that vaccination can greatly reduce the risk of severe covid-19 and death.
WHO and global experts are calling on rich countries to play a more important role in global vaccine initiatives. In Africa, millions of people still don't get a single shot of the vaccine. But in the United States and other countries, the injections have already begun.
Africa remains the region with the lowest vaccination rates in the world, with only 5% of Africa's 1.3 billion people fully vaccinated. In many other countries and regions, vaccination rates are less than 20%.
In the northern Italian city of Bergamo, which was the epicenter of the outbreak more than a year ago, it is now one of the regions with the highest vaccination rates in Italy. 92% of the local population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fedanza, a 51-year-old resident of Bergamo, said he had lost his father during the outbreak and hoped the outbreak would sound a wake-up call for people and then look ahead.
Albert Ko, an infectious disease expert at the Yale School of Public Health, said, "This was a defining moment in our lives. How can we protect ourselves from moving towards the next 5 million? ”
(Edit email: [email protected])
Column Editor-in-Chief: Yang Liqun Text Editor: Yang Liqun Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zi Xi
Source: Author: Yang Ying