WHO chief says COVID-19 cases, deaths plateauing but at ‘unacceptably high’ level 

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that global COVID-19 case counts are plateauing but at an “unacceptably high” level.

“Globally, we are now seeing a plateauing in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with declines in most regions including the Americas and Europe, the two worst-affected regions,” Tedros said at a news briefing. “But it’s an unacceptably high plateau, with more than 5.4 million reported cases and almost 90 thousand deaths last week.”

After rising throughout March and April, cases worldwide have now peaked and come down slightly, according to figures from Our World in Data, but there are still about 780,000 new cases every day, and almost 13,000 deaths.

Cases have started to level off in India, which is facing a severe crisis, but they are still at the very high level of almost 400,000 every day, according to Our World in Data.

Stark vaccine disparity: “The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic,” he said.

“High- and upper-middle income countries represent 53 percent of the world’s population, but have received 83 percent of the world’s vaccines,” he added. “By contrast, low- and lower-middle income countries account for 47 percent of the world’s population, but have received just 17 percent of the world’s vaccines.”