The world reaches 500 million infections

Xinhua, Europa Press and Ap

Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, April 13, 2022, p. eleven

New York. Cases of covid-19 on a global scale exceeded 500 million yesterday, reported the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, when the number of deaths caused by the virus reached 6 million 183 thousand 657.

The United States has reported 80,456,912 cases and 986,019 deaths since the start of the health crisis, the highest levels in the world, representing more than 16 percent of both infections and deaths. The BA.2 subvariant, derived from ómicron, represents more than 85.9 percent of the new infections detected in the country in the week.

Likewise, 2021 was the deadliest year in US history due to the pandemic, according to an update on counts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which show there were 3.465 million deaths that year. , about 80 thousand more than the previous record of 2020.

Optimism

At the beginning of the previous year, experts optimistically predicted that 2021 would not be as bad as the first year of the pandemic, in part because of the availability of vaccines.

India has the second highest number of cases, with 43 million 36 thousand 928; followed by Brazil, with 30 million 161 thousand 909, detailed the American university. The South American giant ranks second in the world for deaths, with 661,576.

Countries with more than 15 million cases include France, Germany, Britain, Russia, South Korea and Italy, according to the tally.

Total global cases passed the grim milestone of 100 million on January 26, 2021, reached 200 million on August 4, surpassed 300 million on January 6 this year, and surpassed 400 million on February 8.

China defends zero tolerance

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities defended their response to the pandemic after the United States called it arbitrary and recommended its citizens not to travel to China and part of its diplomats to leave the Asian giant.

Zhao Lijan, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stressed that the measures applied by his government are based on science and work effectively; In addition, he expressed We are fully confident in controlling the new wave of covid-19 in Shanghai and elsewhere. Many foreign citizens, including US citizens, are joining the people of Shanghai in solidarity to fight the virus and overcome the current difficulties.

Regarding the situation in the US legation in China, Zhao argued that his government has always provided foreign diplomatic and consular personnel with assistance and convenience for the performance of their duties.

There are currently about 25 million people in Shanghai under lockdown since last week, which has led some of the population to complain of food shortages, but still Beijing continues with its strategy of zero tolerance of the pandemic.