WHO: Number of confirmed COVID cases worldwide surpasses 500 million
April 15, 2022, 4:01 am

WHO: Number of confirmed COVID cases worldwide surpasses 500 million

Covid in China/Facebook page

The Xinhua reported, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 500 million.

According to the WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard, globally, as of 8:36 p.m. CEST (1836 GMT) on Thursday (Apr 14), there have been 500,186,525 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 6,190,349 deaths, reported to WHO.

The United States has the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths, with more than 79.71 million cases and 979,321 deaths -- both accounting for nearly 16 percent of the world's total.

The United States is followed by India and Brazil, which have recorded cases exceeding 43 million and 30 million respectively, as well as 521,737 and 661,493 deaths.

WHO: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 500 million (File photo: Pixabay)

In terms of WHO regional offices, Europe and the Americas have so far reported more than 209 million and 151 million confirmed cases, as well as 1,964,786 and 2,711,779 deaths, respectively. The two regions combined account for over 72 percent of the world's total in confirmed cases and over 75 percent of deaths.

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As the weekly numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths have continued to decline according to the WHO statistics, the agency said on Wednesday (Apr 13) that the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern, advising countries to be prepared to scale up COVID-19 response rapidly.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.