The World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus on Wednesday said the COVID-19 pandemic is still far from over, reported UN News. The statement comes two years after he first used the term to inform the world about the Covid-19 threat.
Ghebreyesus first described Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Now after two years, he lamented how the virus was still evolving and surging in some parts of the world.
“Two years later, more than six million people have died,” the WHO chief told a press conference, while nearly 444 million cases have been registered.
He said that although the number of new cases and reported deaths continue to decline globally, and several countries have lifted restrictions, the pandemic is far from over. He added that the pandemic will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere.
Tedros noted a 46 percent rise in new cases in the WHO’s Western Pacific region last week, where 3.9 million infections were recorded.
“The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major obstacles in distributing vaccines, tests, and treatments everywhere they are needed,” the WHO director said.
Tedros said the WHO is concerned about the recent plunge in coronavirus testing rates across the world.
“This inhibits our ability to see where the virus is, how it’s spreading and how it’s evolving,” the WHO chief said.
As per the latest data, the number of fresh cases fell five percent worldwide last week compared to the week before, while the number of deaths dropped eight percent.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead said, “The virus is still spreading at far too intensive a level, three years into this pandemic.”
She said even though there is a declining trend in the number of reported cases, there were still more than 10 million reported cases reported at a global level last week.
