The World Health Organisation (WHO), yesterday, raised the alarm that the global number of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths during the previous week climbed by 21 per cent despite a rollout of the vaccination programme.
Out of the 69,000 new deaths, many were reported in the Americas and Southeast Asia, according to the dataset spanning July 19 to July 25. So far, more than four million people worldwide were confirmed to have died after being infected, the Geneva-based agency said.
The number of infections reported last week was 3.8 million, up to eight per cent from the previous week. Nearly 194 million infections have been reported since the pandemic began in early 2020.
As of July 28, confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries reached 6,540,892 while over 41,376,862 vaccinations have been administered across the continent. Reported deaths in Africa have reached 166,260 and 5,743,757 people have recovered.
South Africa has the most reported cases 2,391,223 and 70,388 deaths. Other most affected countries are Morocco (588,448), Tunisia (575,002), Egypt (284,090), Ethiopia (278,920), Libya (243,470) and Kenya (199,941).
Nigeria, on Tuesday, recorded its highest daily COVID-19 infection figure in more than four months. The country recorded almost 100 per cent increase in infections. On Monday, the nation had 213 cases but moved to 404 fresh cases the day after, smashing the previous high figure of 317, which was reported on July 24 as the highest daily record in four months. This is according to an update posted on Wednesday morning on the official Facebook page of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The new figure, which is now the biggest daily increase in the country since March 4 when 708 cases were recorded, raised the total infections in the country to 171,728.
After months of low numbers, Nigeria’s Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in the past two weeks shortly after the discovery of the much-dreaded Delta variant of the disease, which is said to be highly transmissible. Infection rates have largely concentrated in Lagos, Nigeria’s hardest-hit city by the pandemic. The commercial city reported 356 out of the 404 daily total. It was followed by Rivers State with 18 new cases and the FCT with seven.
Health experts fear the rising numbers could put the nation on the precipice of what could be another stretch of spread in infections amid indications that the third wave is beginning. However, no death was recorded from the disease on Tuesday, keeping the death toll at 2,134 in total.
With the recent increase in daily cases, active cases have risen to 4,747. The Federal Government said it has tested over 2.4 million samples in a country of more than 200 million people.
