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Updated August 25th, 2020 at 18:51 IST

WHO says coronavirus cases and deaths slowed globally except for few regions

WHO said that the coronavirus continues to expand. However, rise in cases and deaths has decreased globally except for southeast Asia and few other regions.

Reported by: Akanksha Arora
WHO
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In the World Health Organisation's latest epidemiological update which was issued on August 24, it said that the novel coronavirus continues to expand. However, rise in cases and deaths has decreased globally except for southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean regions. According to the update, the United States of America remains the hardest hit region. 

COVID-19 pace slows across the globe, excluding few regions

Reports suggest that the United States accounts for more than half of the newly emerged cases globally at 62 per cent. The WHO reportedly said that for the week ending on August 23, over 1.7 million new Covid-19 cases and 39,000 new deaths were reported from all across the globe. Reports suggest that the novel coronavirus has infected more than 23.65 million people and 811,895​ have died globally. Southeast Asia is the second most worst hit area. It has reportedly recorded a jump of  28% of new cases and 15% of deaths.

Read: COVID-19: Schools In South Korea Shut Again, Spain Introduces New Restrictions

India continues to report the majority of cases from the region. However, the virus is also spreading at a fast pace in Nepal. The WHO reportedly said that in Africa the situation has improved as cases and deaths have decreased by 8% and 11% respectively in the past week. This is due to a dip in the cases in regions like,  Algeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa. As a result of this, the South African cinema industry has put on a united front for the first time to reopen on August 28 the cinemas which have been shut down across the country for the past five months due to the COVID-19 lockdown. 

According to the reports, the cases in Europe have drastically increased over the last three weeks. As a result of this, the economy has dropped again. Companies in Europe are cutting jobs for a sixth consecutive month, though not by as much as in April, with layoffs biggest in the manufacturing sector. Experts have said that the outlook for the economy is closely tied to the number of reported coronavirus cases and whether a second wave of outbreaks will keep schools from reopening and restrict shops, restaurants and other businesses from operating. However, a decrease of as less as 1 per cent was reported in the recent week. Also, the number of deaths continue to decrease across the continent.

Read: New Zealand Reports 7 New Community Virus Cases

In the Western Pacific region, including, Japan, Australia, Singapore, China and Vietnam, the cases have reportedly dropped by 5 per cent. However, South Korea has reported an increase of 180 pe cent in cases. Initially South Korea gained a lot of praise for its success in tackling the novel coronavirus. The country used measures like extensive testing and aggressive contact-tracing. However, health ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said that the health investigators had been unable to determine the transmission routes of about 20% of the recent cases and this has been raising concerns over the silent spreaders.

Read: COVID-19: Hypertension Medicines May Improve Survival Chances, Says New Study

Also Read: COVID-19 Tracing Apps Ineffective In Curbing Virus Transmission? Read What Study Says

(Image Credits: Unsplash)

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Published August 25th, 2020 at 18:51 IST

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