WHO Says Omicron Variant Pushing Up World COVID Cases, Deaths
2022-07-02
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1The World Health Organization (WHO) says COVID cases increased by 18 percent around the world in the last week.
2The rise is mostly due to the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron versions, or variants, of the virus.
3Cases increased the most in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas.
4The United Nations health agency said 4.1 million new cases were reported last week around the world.
5Deaths increased in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.
6But the total number worldwide stayed the same as the week before -- at about 8,500.
7WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said cases were on the rise in 110 countries because of the fast-spreading Omicron variants.
8Omicron was first discovered in southern Africa in November 2021.
9In a news briefing, Tedros said "the pandemic is changing but it is not over."
10He also noted that the health agency's ability to study the virus is "under threat," as nations around the world are decreasing their efforts to track COVID.
11He said less genetic sequencing will make it harder to notice new and possibly dangerous variants.
12Tedros called again for nations to vaccinate people most at risk, including healthcare workers and people over 60.
13He said hundreds of millions of people remain unvaccinated and at risk of severe disease and death.
14The rate of immunization stands at about 13 percent in poor countries.
15About 1.2 billion vaccines have been given out around the world.
16Tedros said it is hard to believe that some people might suggest poor countries "should not boost and vaccinate their most at-risk (people)."
17He noted rich countries are vaccinating children as young as 6 months and are planning new vaccination efforts.
18Charity organization Oxfam and the People's Vaccine Alliance say less than half of the 2.1 billion vaccines promised by the Group of Seven large economies have been delivered.
19In June, the United States began offering vaccinations for babies and very young children.
20The U.S. has also started to work on boosters for later this year that would target the latest COVID variants.
21I'm Dan Friedell.
1The World Health Organization (WHO) says COVID cases increased by 18 percent around the world in the last week. The rise is mostly due to the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron versions, or variants, of the virus. 2Cases increased the most in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. 3The United Nations health agency said 4.1 million new cases were reported last week around the world. Deaths increased in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas. But the total number worldwide stayed the same as the week before -- at about 8,500. 4WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said cases were on the rise in 110 countries because of the fast-spreading Omicron variants. Omicron was first discovered in southern Africa in November 2021. 5In a news briefing, Tedros said "the pandemic is changing but it is not over." He also noted that the health agency's ability to study the virus is "under threat," as nations around the world are decreasing their efforts to track COVID. He said less genetic sequencing will make it harder to notice new and possibly dangerous variants. 6Tedros called again for nations to vaccinate people most at risk, including healthcare workers and people over 60. He said hundreds of millions of people remain unvaccinated and at risk of severe disease and death. 7The rate of immunization stands at about 13 percent in poor countries. About 1.2 billion vaccines have been given out around the world. 8Tedros said it is hard to believe that some people might suggest poor countries "should not boost and vaccinate their most at-risk (people)." He noted rich countries are vaccinating children as young as 6 months and are planning new vaccination efforts. 9Charity organization Oxfam and the People's Vaccine Alliance say less than half of the 2.1 billion vaccines promised by the Group of Seven large economies have been delivered. 10In June, the United States began offering vaccinations for babies and very young children. The U.S. has also started to work on boosters for later this year that would target the latest COVID variants. 11I'm Dan Friedell. 12Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 13Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 14________________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16genetic sequencing -n. a way of mapping the parts of a cell of a living thing in order to keep track of changes 17vulnerable - adj. open to harm or damage 18immunization - n. the act of giving people a vaccine to prevent infection by a disease 19boost - v. to increase the force or power of something, in this case the strength of a vaccine