► The United States organizes a world summit on May 12
The White House announced Monday, April 18 the forthcoming holding of a world summit to put an end to the epidemic of Covid-19 and “preparing for future health threats”. This meeting will take place on May 12 by videoconference. It will be co-chaired by the United States, Germany (currently leading the G7), Indonesia (leading the G20), Senegal (leading the African Union) and Belize, at the Head of Caricom (Caribbean Community).
Although the Omicron variant is less dangerous than its “predecessors”, the organizers of the summit believe that it is essential to do everything possible to prevent new health catastrophes from taking the world by surprise.
→ ANALYSIS. World Health Summit: a new impetus to manage the Covid pandemic?
The US government, as well as the countries involved in the summit, say they want to maintain the sense of urgency in the face of the epidemic: “We call on world leaders, members of civil society, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to make new commitments and deliver solutions to immunize the world’s population, save lives now and build better health security. around the world. »
► In China, Shanghai announces three deaths linked to Covid
The Chinese city of Shanghai announced that only three people had died of Covid-19 despite several hundred thousand positive cases in recent weeks. These are the first deaths officially announced since the start of containment at the end of March in the Chinese economic capital which maintains its “zero Covid” strategy.
Shanghai City Hall said the three deaths were elderly people with underlying illnesses. The two previous deaths announced in China had been in mid-March in Jilin province (northeast), bordering North Korea.
→ READ. Covid-19: Shanghai lockdown weighs on Chinese economy
Shanghai is the scene of the worst virus contagion in China with tens of thousands of new cases announced daily. Its 25 million inhabitants have been placed in strict confinement since the end of March, many of them complaining, among other things, of supply problems.
► India disputes the toll of 4 million deaths attributed to Covid
While a forthcoming study by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the number of deaths attributed to Covid in India at at least 4 million, New Delhi disputes this assessment. The Ministry of Health denounces the methodology of the World Health Organization (WHO) arguing that the mathematical modeling of the WHO would be “debatable” et “statistically unproven”.
→ REPORT. Covid-19: in India, the pandemic lull remains fragile
Authorities estimate the number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic at 520,000, the third heaviest toll in the world, behind the United States and Brazil. According to New York TimesNew Delhi would block the publication of the WHO study for several months already, judging the balance sheet much too high.
The WHO study matches similar calculations published by the journal The Lancet last month, and to a study published in February in the journal Science which evoked at least 3.2 million Covid deaths in India.