Global COVID deaths rise sharply, led by surging Delta

The world's pace of deaths from COVID-19 rose steeply last week, as countries in multiple parts of the world battled surges and people in many nations over the weekend protested vaccination and other measures to curb virus activity. Global COVID deaths last week were up more than 20.6%, with cases increasing by 6.5%, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, the World Health Organization (WHO) technical lead for COVID-19, said today on Twitter. Global cases have been rising for 5 consecutive weeks, and deaths are usually a lagging indicator of increased activity.