COVID-19 pandemic ‘a long way from over’, says WHO chief

Even although greater than 780 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered globally, the pandemic is “a long way from over” however it may be introduced below management in months with confirmed public well being measures, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated.
The coronavirus, which emerged first in central China’s Wuhan metropolis in December 2019, has contaminated greater than 136,500,400 individuals and killed over 2,944,500 individuals the world over.
“In January and February, the world saw six consecutive weeks of declining cases. We have now seen seven consecutive weeks of increasing cases, and four weeks of increasing deaths. Last week was the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far. Several countries in Asia and the Middle East have seen large increases in cases,” WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus stated.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, he stated whereas greater than 780 million doses of vaccine have now been administered globally, vaccines are a robust device however not the one device.
“Physical distancing works. Masks work. Hand hygiene works. Ventilation works. Surveillance, testing, contact tracing, isolation, supportive quarantine, and compassionate care all work to stop infections and save lives,” he added.

He voiced concern that confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public well being measures and their utility are driving transmission and costing lives. Cautioning that the illness just isn’t flu, he stated younger, wholesome individuals have died from the coronavirus.
“And we still don’t fully understand the long-term consequences of infection for those who survive. Some people appear to be taking the approach that if they are relatively young, it doesn’t matter if they get COVID-19.”
Warning that the pandemic is a great distance from over, Ghebreyesus stated the world has many causes for optimism.
“The decline in cases and deaths during the first two months of the year shows that this virus and its variants can be stopped. With a concerted effort to apply public health measures alongside equitable vaccination, we could bring this pandemic under control in a matter of months,” he stated including that “whether we do or not comes down to the decisions and the actions that governments and individuals make every day. The choice is ours.”

The high WHO official famous that at the moment, international manufacturing is inadequate to ship fast, equitable vaccines and different important well being merchandise. Tedros confused the significance of investing in “sustainable and secure domestic manufacturing capacity and national regulatory authorities”, asserted that “what can be done today, should be done today.”
Noting that WHO and its companions have established a COVAX manufacturing taskforce, to extend provide and construct a sustainable vaccine manufacturing platform, he stated the UN company’s technical help is offered in assessing the feasibility of native manufacturing and to entry expertise and know-how.