A COVID-19 cluster at a Japanese hotel where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members are staying has raised new concerns about infections at the Tokyo Games, as the host city records its highest number of new cases for six months. Seven staff at a southwest Tokyo hotel tested positive for the coronavirus.
Officials have imposed Olympic "bubbles" but medical experts remain worried as the movement of staff servicing the Games can create opportunities for infection.
Meanwhile, the WHO says COVID-19 cases are rising steeply in Africa, having increased by one million in a month. The Delta variant has been discovered in 21 African nations so far.
The UN agency's Africa director, Matshidiso Moeti, says this wave of infections is the fastest the continent has seen.
"Over the past month, Africa recorded an additional one million cases. This is the shortest time it's taken so far to add one million cases. Comparatively, it took around three months to move from four million to five million cases. This COVID-19 resurgence is the fastest a continent has seen. New cases have increased for the eighth consecutive week. And 18 African countries are now in resurgence."
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has raised concerns over the growing wave of misinformation about COVID-19 and related vaccines, that threatens efforts to quell the pandemic and save lives.
In his first advisory as the nation's top doctor under President Joe Biden, Dr Murthy called on tech companies to change their algorithms so false information is less visible.
Dr Murthy says COVID-19 misinformation comes mostly from individuals who may not know they are spreading false claims, but others do.
"Yes, there is disinformation that is coming from 'bad actors', but it's also important to point out is that much of the misinformation that is circulating online is often coming from individuals who don't have bad intentions, but who are unintentionally sharing information that they think might be helpful. And that's why in this advisory, we make it very clear that among the things we're asking individuals to do is to pause before they share, to check sources. And if they're not sure if the source is credible, to not share."
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