Last Update: January 31, 2023, 2:14 PM IST
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that as the world enters the fourth year of the pandemic, there is no doubt that “we are now in a far better position than we were a year ago” (Image: Reuters/File)
Ghebreyesus cautioned that since the beginning of December, weekly reported deaths have been rising and that in the past eight weeks, more than 170,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic remains a “global health emergency” and the deadly virus will remain a “permanently established pathogen” in humans and animals for the foreseeable future. World Health Organization.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that as the world enters the fourth year of the pandemic, there is no doubt that “we are now in a far better position” than a year ago when the Omicron wave was at its peak . He said that COVID-19 remains a health emergency.
“Three years ago today, I declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the global spread of COVID-19 – the highest level of alarm under International Health Regulations, and for the time being, the only level of alarm,” Ghebreyesus said. they have been advised by the emergency committee coronavirus disease that “COVID-19 remains a global health emergency”.
The Committee acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic is moving towards an “inflection point”.
“Achieving high levels of population immunity globally, through infection and/or vaccination, may limit the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on morbidity and mortality, but there is no doubt that this virus continues to infect humans and The pathogen will remain permanently established in animals for the foreseeable future,” it said.
It noted that while eliminating the virus from human and animal reservoirs is highly unlikely, mitigation of its devastating effect on morbidity and mortality is achievable and should remain a “priority goal”.
Ghebreyesus cautioned that since the beginning of December, weekly reported deaths have been rising and that in the past eight weeks, more than 170,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19.
“We can’t control the virus, but we can do more to address vulnerabilities in populations and health systems,” he said, adding that this could mean vaccinating 100 percent of the most at-risk groups.
It also means increasing access to testing and early antiviral use; taking context-specific measures when there is a surge in cases; and maintaining and expanding the laboratory network.
He also called for fighting misinformation related to the virus and vaccination. Novel coronavirus was first reported on December 31, 2019 in Wuhan, China. Globally, according to the WHO, there have been more than 752.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6.8 million deaths so far.
So far, 13.1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered globally, with 89 percent of health workers and 81 percent of older adults (over 60 years) completing the primary series.
The WHO chief said he hoped that in the coming year, the world would transition to a new phase in which hospitalizations and deaths would be reduced to the lowest possible levels, and health systems would respond to COVID-19 in an integrated and sustainable manner. Will be able to manage. ,
“Vaccination will continue to be an essential part of our approach. We are now working to determine the most effective mechanism for advising Member States and manufacturers on vaccine composition and vaccination frequency.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)