Brace for wave 2: WHO warns world that Covid-19 isn’t disappearing – it’s surging

South Africa has a relatively low number of reported Covid-19 deaths compared to many other countries, but the number of cases is rising steadily – heading towards 56,000 this week. Most of the 1,200 or so deaths have been reported in the Western Cape. President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that Covid-19 will be with us for some time, a message that is in tune with the statement from the World Health Organisation that Covid-19 isn't disappearing from the world, but is in fact surging. Along with the spread of the deadly Covid-19 disease are fears about the toll this virus continues to take on economies. – Jackie Cameron.By Thulasizwe Sithole.The historic Covid-19 pandemic is not ending – it is surging. This is the message underscored by one of the USA's leading media organisations, as restrictions are lifted around the world and the sense of urgency surrounding the disease weakens..The Washington Post highlights that there were 136,000 new infections reported on Sunday, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. And, there are more than 7 million confirmed cases so far, with the number of deaths nearing half a million – and little sign of this tapering off.."By no means is this over," the publication quotes Mike Ryan, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) executive director, as saying. .___STEADY_PAYWALL___."If we look at the numbers over the last number of weeks, this pandemic is still evolving. It is still growing in many parts of the world.".Latin America, points out The Washington Post, has emerged as a hot spot, currently accounting for almost half of global deaths by the Financial Times' tally. ."The problem is particularly acute in Brazil, where the central government has maintained a hands-off attitude to the outbreak even as cases surged to almost 750,000, second only to the United States, but it has also hit countries, such as Peru, that took early steps against the virus.".Cases have surged in South Asia, continues the US media outlet, highlighting the following:. WHO officials urged Pakistan to lock down after officials declared a record number of new cases in the past 24 hours;India is facing a new wave of infection; a top official in Delhi on Wednesday said that cases were expected to soar above 500,000 by the end of next monthIndonesia had its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, with 1,241 new infections;Across sub-Saharan Africa, there are now more than 200,000 cases; andThere is widespread speculation that Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundi's president, who died on Tuesday, was the first world leader to die of Covid-19, though Burundian officials have said the cause of death was cardiac arrest..The scale of the coronavirus has made it hard to take in, says The Washington Post. "In the period of four months, it has devastated the world," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Tuesday. "And it isn't over yet.".Worryingly, nations that were hit early appear to be losing ground in their recovery, in particular Iran and the United States where "experts are united by fresh fears of a second wave".In Iran, where new cases have surged to record highs weeks after the country eased its lockdown, some officials have blamed increased testing, which in itself raises questions about the first outbreak's extent. ."We don't know if it will be a second wave, a second peak or a continuing first wave in some countries," WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan reportedly told CNBC..US states are seeing an increasing number of patients since Memorial Day weekend and there are new concerns that the anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis could add to a nationwide surge.."In the United States and elsewhere, the protests about injustice are partly fueled by the racial disparities seen in the outbreak. Protesters have attempted to maintain social distance and use masks and hand sanitizer – but that has not always proved possible," opines The Washington Post.."The facts suggest that the US is not going to beat the coronavirus," the Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal and Robinson Meyer are reported as saying. "Collectively, we slowly seem to be giving up.".Looking ahead, there are glimmers of hope, with:.New Zealand declaring itself coronavirus-free and Taiwan close to that milestone too; andSome smaller nations, like the Pacific island of Samoa, have avoided getting a single confirmed case.."But until the pandemic is pushed back globally, these victories are fragile. We've seen this year how easily the virus can travel to a country and, once inside, spread furiously. Even for countries without the virus, the economic pain is still there," it reports.."The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development this week predicted that there would probably be a drop of 6% in global economic productivity this year, among the worst declines in a century. If there is a second wave, the drop would be worse – 7.6% – the organisation said, with unemployment at 10 percent in developed countries in 2020 and little improvement next year," says the WP..Even in newly reopened New Zealand, that impact is evident, with officials in Auckland reporting that foot traffic and spending in the central business district were only 40% of what they had been before the virus. "When you've normally got an inner-city workforce in excess of 138,000 people, coupled with international tourists, that's a major change in customers," one reportedly told the New Zealand Herald.."There are some reasons to be hopeful. A study by Britain's Cambridge and Greenwich Universities released Wednesday suggested that widespread mask wearing could help prevent a second wave as damaging as the first. Vaccine trials are beginning and many hope that the ambitious, accelerated development timetables will produce results as soon as the end of the year," says the Washington Post..But there is still much we don't know and little reason to feel triumphant right now. "This microscopic virus has humbled all of us," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is quoted as saying.

Brace for wave 2: WHO warns world that Covid-19 isn’t disappearing – it’s surging

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