Countries say the virtual talks will focus on getting more people vaccinated and ensuring preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic.
A second global COVID-19 summit will be held next month, the White House and its allies have announced, in an effort to step up cooperation to end the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for future health threats.
In a joint statement on Monday, the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal said a virtual conference on May 12 will focus on jabs in weapons, testing and deployment of treatments, protecting health workers and gathering funds for pandemic preparedness. will focus. Priorities.
“We are calling on world leaders, members of civil society, NGOs, philanthropists, and the private sector to make new commitments and bring solutions to help the world vaccinate, save lives now, and create better health security – For everyone, everywhere,” he said.
“The emergence and spread of new variants such as Omicron has reinforced the need for a strategy aimed at controlling COVID-19 around the world.”
This will be the second global coronavirus summit after US President Joe Biden hosted the first in September last year. While the death rate for COVID-19 has declined in many places around the world, the virus continues to spread and governments have been forced to impose restrictions or impose fresh lockdowns.
The Chinese city of Shanghai announced on Monday that three people infected with the virus had died the previous day – the first deadliest public protests since a week-long lockdown by authorities.
India, which was at the epicenter of the global COVID-19 crisis this time last year, has seen cases creep in recently, with most precautions including wearing of masks being lifted recently.
Meanwhile, scientists in the US warn that the country could see a wave of cases fueled by the Omicron subvariant BA.2, which is already peaking across Europe. America hopes that soon it will become the first country in the world to cross the one million deaths related to coronavirus.
But elsewhere, officials are calling for the ban to be lifted. Brazil’s health minister said on Sunday that the country would “in the coming days” lift public health emergency measures that were imposed over the COVID-19 outbreak.
south american nation It has reported more than 662,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began – second only to the US at more than 988,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
“We have the conditions to announce the end of the health emergency today,” Brazil’s Health Minister Marcelo Quiroga said on television on Sunday. “However, this does not mean the end of COVID-19. We will continue to live with the virus.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Africa had fallen to their lowest level since the pandemic began, the longest drop the disease has seen so far.
But the agency warned that with winter approaching countries in the Southern Hemisphere, “there is a high risk of another wave of new infections”. Coronavirus spreads more easily in colder temperatures when people are likely to gather in large numbers indoors.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa Director, said: “As the virus continues to spread, the risk of new and potentially more deadly forms emerging, and pandemic control measures are critical to an effective response to a surge in infections.” “
