Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Cases Taking An Important Downturn, WHO Signals
Fox News: WHO: COVID-19 Cases Hit 1st 'Substantial Decline' In Months
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 4 million weekly COVID-19 cases, reflecting the first marked decline in more than two months. In recent weeks, there were about 4.4 million cases. All regions worldwide reported declines in new infections compared to the prior week, according to the WHO’s latest COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update, released Sept. 14. Nevertheless, the U.S., U.K., India, Iran and Turkey contributed the highest numbers of new reported cases. New reported deaths worldwide also declined over the prior week, at 62,000 fatalities, though Africa reported a 7% increase in weekly deaths. (Rivas, 9/15)
Axios: EU Pledges 200M COVID Vaccine Doses To Africa, Low-Income Nations
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the bloc would donate an additional 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses to Africa and low-income nations, AP reports. The new donation, slated to be delivered by the middle of next year, comes as confirmed cases of the coronavirus have reached 225 million globally. (Reyes, 9/15)
Bloomberg: China Has Fully Vaccinated More Than 1 Billion People
China has fully vaccinated more than 1 billion people against Covid-19 -- over 70% of its total population -- powering ahead of the U.S. and Europe despite having no immediate plans to ease some of the strictest pandemic measures in the world. A total of 2.16 billion doses have been given in China as of Sept. 15, Mi Feng, a spokesperson at the National Health Commission, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday, fully inoculating more than 1.01 billion people. (9/16)
