The pace of vaccination in Germany has slowed, while the rate of infection has increased significantly. On Monday, the total number of people infected with the coronavirus worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic reached 250 million. A sharp increase in the number of cases has recently been observed in Eastern European countries. Meanwhile, the United States is opening its borders to people who have been fully vaccinated with one of the approved vaccines, but the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine is not considered one of those vaccines. According to Reuters, an average of 50 million people worldwide are infected every 90 days. About the same number of cases were recorded in the entire first year of the pandemic. Scientists continue to attribute the rapid spread of the disease to the more contagious Delta strain. At the same time, the average daily number of COVID-19 cases has decreased by approximately 35% in the majority of developed countries with a well-established population vaccination campaign.
The sector of the cemeteries for the dead of the pandemic in Bergamo. At the beginning of the pandemic, the highest mortality rate was observed in northern Italy. The analysis department of The Economist magazine (subscription required) has calculated that the true number of coronavirus victims worldwide is about 17 million people, not 5 million as official statistics show. Journalists first noticed anomalies in the calculations in March 2020. At that time, 1140 deaths were registered in several districts of the Italian province of Bergamo, and the overall mortality rate increased by 2420 people compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the Italian statistical offices. At the same time, the number of deaths from natural causes remained about the same. Thus, the deaths of almost 1300 people turned out to be unexplained. Economist analysts then found the same flaws in the data for Britain, the United States, Spain, and other countries. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. Episodes The end of history: Podcast Advertising. According to the publication, there are several reasons for these discrepancies. First, in many countries, the number of deaths was calculated based on the results of testing patients, and only those who were diagnosed with Covid-19 during their lifetime were included in the statistics. People who died of other coronavirus-related causes and those who simply did not have time to be diagnosed were placed in a different statistical category. Second, many countries simply cannot or will not collect accurate statistics. For example, in the relatively poor country of Bulgaria, according to analysts at The Economist, official COVID-19 mortality data are reported to be half of the actual figures. In Russia, the statistics are underestimated by a factor of 3.5, in India by a factor of ten. The picture that emerges, the publication writes, is that data are mostly underestimated in countries with the least resources to fight the pandemic. This, in turn, prevents the rest of the world from understanding and analyzing the true extent of the pandemic and its impact on all aspects of our lives. To arrive at its own figure of 17 million, The Economist relied on a number of well-known methods, including the method of counting those killed in wars. “The researchers do not count those who have bullets directly detected in their bodies, but take into account the total number of deaths compared to previous periods,” the publication explains. More than half of all newly registered cases of the disease are accounted for by European countries, Reuters reports, citing its own Covid-19 data processing center.
Romania is one of the European countries where the number of COVID-19 patients is increasing rapidly. The daily number of infections in Russia, Greece and Ukraine has reached or is approaching the highest levels recorded at the start of the pandemic. A sharp increase in the number of cases has also been reported in Germany. Many world leaders are urging the WHO and pharmaceutical companies to make vaccines more accessible in poor and developing countries. It is estimated that half of the world’s population has not received even a first dose of the vaccine. The WHO has called on the G20 countries to provide $23.4 billion over the course of the year to provide vaccines, tests and a range of medicines to poor countries. Vaccination will also be a key topic at the virtual summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders, which opens this week under the chairmanship of New Zealand. Beginning Monday, the United States will begin allowing visitors from other countries who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus with internationally approved vaccines to enter the country. The Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” is not yet included in the list of approved vaccines.
The World Health Organization has not yet officially recommended the use of Sputnik V” and the certification process is ongoing. Russian politicians have previously called this “vaccine discrimination” and attributed the delays to political reasons. International experts attribute them to technical reasons, namely the inability of the Russian side to provide the necessary information in time. It is noteworthy that during the peak of the pandemic, vaccinated Russian citizens with “Sputnik V” were allowed to enter the United States. In 2019, about 300,000 Russian citizens visited the country (although all of them had to prove the importance of their reason for travel). Later, the American authorities refused to recognize “Sputnik V” as an effective vaccine, citing that the drug is not certified by the WHO. The ban on foreigners visiting the United States, introduced by the Donald Trump administration, has been in effect since March 2020. Citizens of China, where the spread of the coronavirus began, were banned even earlier. According to representatives of various airlines and travel agencies around the world, hundreds of thousands of people booked airline tickets and hotels in the United States after the date of the lifting of the ban was announced. In addition to a vaccination passport, travelers must provide a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours prior to travel. They must also provide complete contact information for the infection tracking system. No quarantine is required upon arrival in the United States. American authorities say that entry into the country will be open to those who have been vaccinated with drugs approved by the US or WHO. This means that those who have received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses of such vaccines will be able to enter. Americans were also unable to visit other countries for a long time, but the restrictions on them were lifted much earlier. For example, EU countries lifted the ban on travelers from the United States in June and the United Kingdom in late July. The U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will also be open to fully vaccinated individuals. It has been reported that thousands of people have already been observed in some areas of the Mexican border attempting to take advantage of the relaxation. Thousands of Mexican families have been separated during the pandemic. However, many may face a problem because in Mexico (and several other Latin American countries), part of the population has been vaccinated with the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine.
According to a survey conducted in the UK, one in ten Britons regret impulsive spending during the pandemic. This includes a wide range of purchases, from hot tubs to gardening tools. Most purchases were related to two areas of life – decorating the home (garden furniture, game consoles, kitchen appliances, tools) and maintaining physical fitness (exercise equipment, bicycles, punching bags, online fitness courses). People also spent money on decorations, musical instruments, and even pizza ovens. On average, respondents spent around £1400 on various purchases. Many said they used their purchases only a few times.