GENEVA — The World Health Organization said the number of new coronavirus cases reported globally appears to be stabilizing at about 4.5 million infections after steadily rising for the past two months.
In its weekly assessment of the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said COVID-19 increased by about 20% and 8% in the Western Pacific and in the Americas, while rates of disease either remained the same or dropped in other regions.
The countries with the highest numbers of new cases were the United States, Iran, India, Britain and Brazil.
The assessment released Tuesday says there were about 68,000 new deaths reported globally, with Europe and the Americas registering increases of about 10%.
WHO also noted several recent studies that show licensed vaccines still provide protection against severe coronavirus disease, but that there is some evidence to show the shots are less effective at preventing people from becoming infected with the more contagious delta variant.
Previous research concluded the vaccines are most useful for preventing hospitalizations and deaths, not virus transmission.
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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:
— In visit to Hanoi, US Vice President Kamala Harris says US will provide Vietnam with 1 million vaccine doses
— Virus disrupts more Florida classrooms as governor’s lawyers argue against mask mandates
— Flurry of employers requiring workers to get vaccinated after Pfizer got full FDA approval
— Japan to further expand virus emergency areas as cases surge
— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LONDON — A music and surfing festival in southwest England has been linked to some 4,700 confirmed coronavirus cases.
About 76,000 people attended the Boardmasters festival event in Cornwall during August 11-15.
Attendees were required either to be double-vaccinated against COVID-19, to provide a negative lateral flow test within 24 hours of arrival, or show proof of immunity through past infection within the last six months.
A Boardmasters spokesperson said infection-prevention measures in place at the festival had gone beyond the government guidance.
Authorities in Cornwall, a tourism hot spot, asked visitors to stay away this week unless they had already booked a vacation. The county currently has the highest coronavirus infection rate in England.
Local authorities in Suffolk, England, also released an analysis of the more than 1,000 positive virus tests confirmed after the Latitude music festival in July, attended by around 40,000 people.
Council data showed 619 people contracted the virus during the event, while another 432 became infectious at the time, despite the event having the same entry requirements as the Boardmasters festival.
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HANOI — The United States plans to provide an additional 1 million coronavirus vaccine doses and tens of millions of aid dollars to Vietnam to help combat the pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking during a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday, announced that the doses would begin to arrive within the next 24 hours. They will bring the total U.S. vaccine donation to Vietnam to 6 million doses.
The Defense Department is also delivering 77 freezers for storing the vaccines throughout the country.
Vietnam is grappling with a fresh coronavirus surge driven by the delta variant, and the country has a stubbornly low vaccination rate.
In addition to more vaccine doses, the U.S. will provide $23 million in emergency aid through the Centers for Disease Control and the United States Agency for International Development to help expand distribution and access to vaccines, and to prepare for future disease threats.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Wednesday reported 141 deaths from COVID-19, one of its highest tallies since May.
According to Pakistan’s National Command and Operations Center, more than 4,000 new coronavirus infections were also reported in the past 24 hours.
The surge comes amid widespread violations of social distancing and new rules regarding vaccinations.
Pakistan announced Tuesday vaccinations will be required of teachers, professors, school staff and students older than 17 and unvaccinated people will be barred from entering educational institutions starting Oct. 15.
Unvaccinated people also will not be allowed to use public transport or enter shopping malls from Oct. 15.
Pakistan, with a population of about 220 million, has reported more than 1,134,000 infections and 25,220 deaths in the pandemic.
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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 2,155 new coronavirus cases, nearly matching a record daily increase set earlier this month amid an alarming spread of infections.
With Wednesday’s report, the country has tallied more than 1,000 new cases for 50 consecutive days, including a record 2,221 on Aug. 11.
The virus has shown no signs of slowing despite officials enforcing strong social distancing restrictions short of a lockdown in Seoul and other large population centers where private social gatherings are banned after 6 p.m.
The Health Ministry is concerned that transmissions could further increase during next month’s Chuseok holidays, the Korean version of Thanksgiving when millions of people travel across the country to meet relatives. It is considering measures to reduce travel during the period, such as limiting train occupancy.
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SYDNEY — Australia’s New South Wales state has recorded another new daily high of 919 coronavirus infections. It also has had two more deaths related to COVID-19.
New South Wales’s previous high for a 24-hour period was 830 infections reported Sunday.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said Wednesday that the health system in Australia’s most populous state is under pressure but is coping.
The COVID-19 death toll has reached 76 in New South Wales since the outbreak of the delta variant was first detected in Sydney on June 16.
Neighboring Victoria, Australia second-most populous state, reported 45 new infections Wednesday.
Both states are locked down.
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JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s top health official says he has received threats from people who are spreading lies accusing his family of receiving payments for him urging the public to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Mississippi has seen a rapid increase in cases since early July, driven by the highly contagious delta variant of the virus and the state’s low vaccination rate. State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has been imploring people for months to get vaccinated.
On Tuesday, Dobbs wrote on Twitter that he has gotten threatening phone calls from people repeating unfounded “conspiracy theories” involving him and his family.
Dobbs says one lie is that his son, who is also a physician, receives a World Bank-funded kickback whenever Dobbs urges people to get vaccinated. In Dobbs’ words: “I get zero $ from promoting vaccination.”
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A poison control hotline in Alabama is fielding increasing calls about possible poisoning with ivermectin poisoning, an animal de-wormer that doctors are warning people not to try as a home remedy for COVID-19.
The Alabama Poison Information Center at Children’s of Alabama has fielded 24 ivermectin exposure cases so far this year, of which 15 were related to COVID-19 prevention and treatment. It says there have been five other calls seeking information about ivermectin.
By comparison, the center had six total calls involving the de-wormer in 2019 and 12 in 2020.
Federal regulators have approved ivermectin to treat people and animals for some parasitic worms and for head lice and skin conditions, but the drug is not approved for COVID-19. The human and animal formulations are not the same, and doctors say it is dangerous for people to self-dose, particularly with the large quantities given to animals.