COVID-19 is still an international health emergency, was reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) declared, following an advisory committee ruling that the disease may be nearing reaching a “tipping point” where a higher degree of immunity could reduce deaths caused by the virus.
“There there is absolutely no doubt we’re today in a far better place” than we were a year ago at a time when the variation in the omicron was at its highest, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared in remarks made at the start of the annual meeting of executive directors. Of the WHO.
Tedros stated that over the past eight weeks, 170,000 people had been killed worldwide due to the coronavirus. Tedros urged those at risk to be vaccinated, more testing and treatment with antivirals in addition to an increase in the number of lab networks as well as a fight against “misinformation” regarding the spread of the virus.
“We are hopeful that in the coming year, we’ll enter the next phase of our journey in which we can reduce hospitalizations and deaths to the lowest levels,” he said.
Tedros spoke after the WHO announced the conclusions of its emergency panel on the pandemic, declaring it had been reported that 13.1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines were given. According to the report, about 90 percent of healthcare workers and more than four in-five adults over 60 had completed the initial series of vaccinations.
“The committee was aware that the COVID-19 pandemic could be nearing the tipping threshold,” the WHO said in the statement. Increased levels of immune protection worldwide obtained through vaccination or the infection process “could limit the impact” of the COVID-19 virus in “morbidity and mortality,” the committee stated.
“But there is no certainty that it will continue to be an ever-present pathogen to both animals and humans in the near time to come,” it reads. Even though the omicron-type variants can be easily transmitted, “there has been a difference between the severity of the infection and the illness” compared to earlier versions.
Committee members have cited “pandemic fatigue” and the increasing perception in the public that COVID-19 isn’t as harmful as it used to be, causing people to be more oblivious to preventive measures like wearing masks. And social isolation.
