"WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Friday that "cases and deaths are continuing to increase at worrying rates".
He added that "globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months".
...Hospitals are running low on beds and oxygen. Sick people are being turned away, and some families are turning to the black market to get the drugs they need.
...All eyes are now on the Kumbh Mela festival, which has continued despite fears the millions of Hindu devotees who attend each year could bring the virus home with them. Some 1,600 people tested positive this week at the gathering in the northern state of Uttrakhand, with pictures showing thousands gathered closely together along the banks of the Ganges river.
It has led Prime Minister Narendra Modi to plead with people to refrain from gathering.
...Those with high vaccinations rates, such as the UK and Israel, have seen their numbers of new infections drop sharply. Scientists at Imperial College London say the UK's vaccine rollout could be "breaking the link" between infections, deaths and hospital admissions.
A leading Israeli doctor said this week he believed Israel - where more than half the population has been vaccinated - may be close to reaching "herd immunity".
...But many more countries are still waiting for their first shipments to arrive.
That is leading to warnings about growing "vaccine inequity" - jabs not being being shared fairly between rich and poorer countries.
Dr Tedros pointed out that in high-income countries, one in four people have received a vaccine, compared with only one in 400 in poorer countries.
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He added that "globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months".
...Hospitals are running low on beds and oxygen. Sick people are being turned away, and some families are turning to the black market to get the drugs they need.
...All eyes are now on the Kumbh Mela festival, which has continued despite fears the millions of Hindu devotees who attend each year could bring the virus home with them. Some 1,600 people tested positive this week at the gathering in the northern state of Uttrakhand, with pictures showing thousands gathered closely together along the banks of the Ganges river.
It has led Prime Minister Narendra Modi to plead with people to refrain from gathering.
...Those with high vaccinations rates, such as the UK and Israel, have seen their numbers of new infections drop sharply. Scientists at Imperial College London say the UK's vaccine rollout could be "breaking the link" between infections, deaths and hospital admissions.
A leading Israeli doctor said this week he believed Israel - where more than half the population has been vaccinated - may be close to reaching "herd immunity".
...But many more countries are still waiting for their first shipments to arrive.
That is leading to warnings about growing "vaccine inequity" - jabs not being being shared fairly between rich and poorer countries.
Dr Tedros pointed out that in high-income countries, one in four people have received a vaccine, compared with only one in 400 in poorer countries.
Covid-19 deaths pass three million worldwide
It comes as the World Health Organization warns of deaths and cases increasing at a "worrying rate".
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