Worldwide Pandemic Death Toll Passes 6 Million
2022-03-08
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1The official number of worldwide deaths from COVID-19 passed 6 million on Monday.
2The number shows how the pandemic, now in its third year, is far from over.
3The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland recorded the total.
4The virus continues to kill large numbers of people, even as people stop wearing face coverings and begin to travel more freely.
5Small Pacific islands are experiencing their first large spread of the virus.
6The isolation of such nations had protected them for more than two years.
7Hong Kong is also seeing deaths quickly rise.
8It is testing its entire population of 7.5 million three times this month.
9Death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries.
10The area has also seen more than 1.5 million refugees recently arrive from Ukraine.
11Ukraine has had poor vaccination rates and high rates of cases and deaths.
12The United States has recorded nearly 1 million deaths, even with the country's high vaccine availability and wealth.
13The U.S. has the highest official death toll in the world.
14Case numbers in the U.S. have been dropping over the last month.
15Death rates worldwide are still highest among people who are not vaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang.
16He is a professor at the National University of Singapore's medical school and former researcher with the World Health Organization.
17"The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population," Pang said.
18It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020.
19Four months later another million people had died.
20And 1 million have died every three months since.
21The death toll hit 5 million at the end of October.
22Now it has reached 6 million.
23The world very likely hit its 6 millionth death some time ago.
24Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths.
25There has also been an undercount in excess deaths.
26Those are deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infection.
27They include people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.
28Research on excess deaths by a team at The Economist estimates that the number of deaths from the pandemic is between 14.1 million and 23.8 million.
29The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.
30New weekly cases have been declining quickly in all areas of the world except for the Western Pacific, the World Health Organization reported this week.
31That includes China, Japan and South Korea.
32The worldwide vaccine gap continues.
33Just 6.95 percent of people in poor countries are fully vaccinated.
34But more than 73 percent have been vaccinated in wealthy nations, says research organization Our World in Data.
35However, at the end of last month, Africa passed Europe in the number of vaccine shots given daily.
36Still, only 12.5 percent of the continent's population has received two shots.
37With about 250,000 reported deaths, Africa's lower death rate is thought to be from underreporting.
38There is also a younger and less mobile population there.
39"Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb," Pang said.
40He noted the continent's low vaccination rates.
41I'm Dan Novak.
1The official number of worldwide deaths from COVID-19 passed 6 million on Monday. The number shows how the pandemic, now in its third year, is far from over. 2The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland recorded the total. 3The virus continues to kill large numbers of people, even as people stop wearing face coverings and begin to travel more freely. 4Small Pacific islands are experiencing their first large spread of the virus. The isolation of such nations had protected them for more than two years. 5Hong Kong is also seeing deaths quickly rise. It is testing its entire population of 7.5 million three times this month. 6Death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries. The area has also seen more than 1.5 million refugees recently arrive from Ukraine. Ukraine has had poor vaccination rates and high rates of cases and deaths. 7The United States has recorded nearly 1 million deaths, even with the country's high vaccine availability and wealth. The U.S. has the highest official death toll in the world. Case numbers in the U.S. have been dropping over the last month. 8Death rates worldwide are still highest among people who are not vaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang. He is a professor at the National University of Singapore's medical school and former researcher with the World Health Organization. 9"The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population," Pang said. 10It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died. And 1 million have died every three months since. The death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million. 11The world very likely hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths. There has also been an undercount in excess deaths. Those are deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infection. They include people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full. 12Research on excess deaths by a team at The Economist estimates that the number of deaths from the pandemic is between 14.1 million and 23.8 million. 13The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. New weekly cases have been declining quickly in all areas of the world except for the Western Pacific, the World Health Organization reported this week. That includes China, Japan and South Korea. 14The worldwide vaccine gap continues. Just 6.95 percent of people in poor countries are fully vaccinated. But more than 73 percent have been vaccinated in wealthy nations, says research organization Our World in Data. 15However, at the end of last month, Africa passed Europe in the number of vaccine shots given daily. Still, only 12.5 percent of the continent's population has received two shots. 16With about 250,000 reported deaths, Africa's lower death rate is thought to be from underreporting. There is also a younger and less mobile population there. 17"Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb," Pang said. 18He noted the continent's low vaccination rates. 19I'm Dan Novak. 20Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English from reporting by The Associated Press. 21____________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23isolation - n. the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others 24vulnerable - adj. easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally 25excess - adj. an amount that is more than the usual or necessary amount 26gap - n. a difference between two people, groups, or things 27mobile - adj. able to move from one place to another 28spare - v. to choose not to punish or harm