“The world has never been in a better position to end the Covid-19 pandemic”, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) remarked on Wednesday, advising the world to keep up their efforts against the virus that has taken over six million people.
“We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghe-breyesus talked to the media at a virtual press conference.
The statement was the most optimistic from the UN agency since it stated Covid-19 was an international emergency and started labeling the virus as a pandemic in March 2020.
The virus that emerged in China in late 2019, has killed almost a 6.5 million people and caused the infection to 606 million, shaking global economies and overwhelming healthcare systems.
The rollout of vaccines and therapies has facilitated to curtail the severity of the disease. Deaths due to Covid-19 last week was the lowest since March 2020, according to the UN agency reported.
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However, countries still need to take a hard look at their strategies and strengthen them against Covid-19 and future viruses, Tedros remarked. He also insisted nations vaccinate 100 percent of their high-risk groups and keep on testing for the virus.
Moreover, the WHO also warned of the risk of future waves of the virus stating countries need to maintain sufficient supplies of medical equipment and healthcare workers.
“We expect there to be future waves of infections, potentially at different time points throughout the world caused by different subvariants of Omicron or even different variants of concern,” stated senior epidemiologist at WHO, Maria Van Kerkhove.
Meanwhile, Monkeypox cases were also on a downtrend but Tedros urged nations to keep up the fight.
WHO officials last month said that it is possible to eradicate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe by accelerating vaccination and testing.
“As with Covid-19, this is not the time to relax or let down our guard,” media reported.
