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Million Covid deaths in 2022: WHO

AFP

The World Health Organization announced Thursday that a million people had died from Covid-19 in 2022, calling it a “tragic milestone” when all the tools existed to prevent deaths.

Nearly 6.45 million deaths have been reported to the WHO since the virus was first detected in China in late 2019.

But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned whether the world was really on top of the pandemic, this far in.

“This week, we crossed the tragic milestone of one million reported deaths so far this year,” he told a press conference.

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“We cannot say we are learning to live with Covid-19 when one million people have died with Covid-19 this year alone, when we are two-and-a-half years into the pandemic and have all the tools necessary to prevent these deaths.

“We ask all governments to strengthen their efforts to vaccinate all health workers, older people and others at the highest risk, on the way to 70 percent vaccine coverage for the whole population.”

Tedros wanted all countries to have vaccinated 70 percent of their populations by the end of June.

But 136 countries failed to reach the target, of which 66 still had coverage below 40 percent.

“It is pleasing to see that some countries with the lowest vaccination rates are now making up ground, especially in Africa,” Tedros said Thursday.

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He said only 10 countries had less than 10 percent coverage, most of which were facing humanitarian emergencies.

“However, much more needs to be done,” said Tedros.

“One-third of the world’s population remains unvaccinated, including two-thirds of health workers and three-quarters of older adults in low-income countries.

“All countries at all income levels must do more to vaccinate those most at risk, to ensure access to life-saving therapeutics, to continue testing and sequencing, and to set tailored, proportionate policies to limit transmission and save lives.”

– ‘Real human tragedy’ –

Derrick Sim of the Gavi vaccine alliance said a million deaths in 2022 was a million too many.

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“Behind each statistic is a very real human tragedy, and as… the world deals with competing priorities, we cannot become numb to the toll the pandemic is having on individuals, families, and communities,” he said.

More than 593 million cases have now been reported to the UN health agency. Despite testing rates having dropped sharply in many countries, around half of those cases were reported this year.

The Omicron variant accounted for 99 percent of virus samples collected in the last 30 days that have been sequenced and uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative.

Of these, the BA.5 group of Omicron sub-variants remain globally dominant at 74 percent.

“There is increasing diversity within BA.5 descendent lineages, with additional mutations in the spike and non-spike regions,” the WHO said.

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International

Bogotá residents line up for yellow fever vaccine amid national alert

David Suárez went to a public health center in Bogotá on Wednesday to get vaccinated against yellow fever. It wasn’t originally in his plans, but he responded to a call made just hours earlier by President Gustavo Petro, who announced he will declare a health and economic emergency due to a new outbreak of the disease that has already left more than 30 people dead, mostly in the central-western region of the country.

“I got vaccinated for two reasons: first, for my own health because I’m traveling, and second, for a social reason — simply to follow the president’s guidance and be aware that this is a problem for all of us,” said Suárez, a 39-year-old teacher, to The Associated Press.

Like Suárez, dozens of people were waiting in line for the vaccine at Bogotá’s main intercity bus terminal, a key transportation hub especially crowded during travel seasons like Holy Week.

The teacher is traveling with his family to the department of Huila, which has activated a contingency plan due to its proximity to Tolima — the epicenter of the yellow fever outbreak — where a state of public calamity has been declared.

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International

Mexico refuses to restore ties with Ecuador while Noboa remains in office

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reaffirmed during her morning press conference that her government will not restore diplomatic relations with Ecuador as long as Daniel Noboa remains in office.

“We have no relations with Ecuador, and we will not resume them while Noboa is president, because he was responsible for the invasion of the Mexican embassy—an attack on our sovereignty,” Sheinbaum stated.

The Mexican leader emphasized that Noboa is “responsible for the embassy invasion,” referring to the incident on April 5, 2024, when Ecuadorian police entered the Mexican embassy in Quito and detained former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been granted asylum there.

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International

Colombia: Search continues for missing limb of italian scientist found dismembered

Rescue teams and Colombian authorities continued their search on Tuesday for the missing left leg of Italian biologist Alessandro Coatti, whose dismembered body was found in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta.

Coatti, 42, was a molecular biologist who had been traveling through South America after working for eight years at the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) in London.

He had been staying in a hotel in Santa Marta since April 3 and was later reported missing. His dismembered body began to be discovered on April 6, when parts were found inside a suitcase abandoned near a football stadium in an area known as Bureche.

“We’re conducting the search along the riverbanks and in the water to identify possible spots where, due to the river’s current, the missing left leg might be located,” Karlotz Omaña García, director of the Magdalena Civil Defense, told The Associated Press. Despite covering a 500-meter radius, the limb was not found.

Authorities have not named any suspects or shared possible motives. A reward of more than $11,000 has been offered for information leading to those responsible for the foreign scientist’s murder.

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Police continue to reconstruct Coatti’s final movements. According to Colonel Jaime Ríos, head of the Santa Marta Metropolitan Police, the Italian biologist arrived in Colombia in January and had visited several locations, including Medellín, before traveling to Santa Marta.

Security footage shows Coatti was in downtown Santa Marta the night before his body was found, the colonel added.

Santa Marta, a popular Caribbean tourist destination, is known for its clear beaches. Police believe Coatti may also have visited Tayrona Park, a protected coastal area located about 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the city center.

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