It took more than a year for the world to record 100 million Covid-19 cases first, and half to count the next 100 million.
The third 100 million has come faster, with almost five months, because the large segment of the country, rich and poor, remains not vaccinated and a new variant has been proven to be able to infect even those who.
Counting cases, although not perfect, has become the main barometer in all pandemics, bench marks not only for the government to implement mitigation measures but also for people who try to distinguish their own threats.
But exceeded 300 million known cases – which were recorded on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University Tally – present as more experts argue that it is time to stop focusing on the number of cases.
So far, the new Omicron variant seems to produce severe illnesses in fewer people than the previous virus version, and research shows that the Covid vaccine still offers protection against the worst results.
And although cases rise faster than before – US, Australia, France and many other countries see a surge in recording and death from Covid increases slower.
But experts worry that the number of cases might still burden the health care system.
This week, US main expert Anthony Fauci suggested that it was time to stop focusing on the number of cases.
“When infection becomes less severe, it is far more relevant to focus on hospitalization,” he said.
About 60% of the world has received at least one dose of covid vaccine, but almost three quarters of all shots have been given in the richest countries in the world, leaving people in some parts of Africa and Asia vulnerable.
About 80% of adults in the EU are now vaccinated, the European Commission tweeted.
In the US, everyday cases have increased fivefold for the past month, while hospitalization only multiply.
In France, the average case of everyday has been four times to a record, while hospitalization has increased by around 70% and deaths have multiplied, according to our world in a data project at the University of Oxford.
This trend shows that gloomy rhythms are seen over the past two years – a wave of infection, followed by a harmonious wave of hospitalization, then death – has been changed, mostly due to the protection offered by the vaccine offered by the vaccine.
And because of the availability of tests in homes that widen in the US and Europe, official case numbers – which have long been debated scientists are undercount – can deviate more than before the actual total.
The case number “definitely means less than they did”, said Robert West, a health psychology professor at the University College London.
“If we have this number of infections, we will have the number of astronomical deaths.” Still, the death toll is known to remain destructive: more than 830,000 in the US, 620,000 in Brazil, almost half a million in India.
In many developing countries with large gaps in health data, the actual number may never be known.
What is clear, many experts say, is that the virus is likely to be endemic, something that the world must live together for years to come, such as flu – and when the world records a case of 400 million, because it will certainly be, that statistic means even less than now.