WHO warns not to let your guard down against COVID-19

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – Photo: REUTERS

WHO data records more than 22,000 deaths due to COVID-19 for the week ending April 10, the lowest level since March 30, 2020.

WHO first declared COVID-19 a global health emergency on January 30, 2020, just over a month after the virus emerged in China.

According to CNBC, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the drop in the number of deaths from COVID-19 was good news, but some countries were still seeing a spike in infections.

Tedros said a WHO committee this week agreed that COVID remains an emergency.

“This is not the time to let our guard down, this is the time to work even harder to save lives,” Tedros said. He also said that it is necessary to continue to invest in anti-epidemic equipment and tools, and at the same time strengthen the health system.

“It’s always easier to declare a pandemic than to say it’s over,” said Dr Didier Houssin, chair of the WHO’s emergency committee on international health regulations.

Houssin’s committee is responsible for making recommendations on whether transmission of the virus constitutes a global emergency.

Mr. Houssin said they were working to determine when the WHO could declare that the global health emergency was over.

WHO has called on world leaders to ensure that all countries have COVID-19 vaccinations for 70% of their populations by the middle of this year. However, as of March, WHO noted that 75 countries still have vaccination rates of less than 40% of the population and 21 countries have vaccinated less than 10% of the population.

According to this organization, the world recorded 7.3 million new infections in the week ending April 10, down 24% from the previous week and the lowest level since the end of December last year.