WHO assures that the world has “the instruments to control the pandemic in a few months”

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that “we have the instruments to keep this pandemic under control over the next few months, if we use them consistently and fairly.”

He gave the message of hope in his usual report to Geneva, but nevertheless worried about the “alarming speed” with which the virus spreads among people aged 25 to 59 In the whole world.

Worldwide, the number of Covid-19 cases recorded in a single week has never been greater than in the past seven days, a period in which 5.2 million new confirmed infections have accumulated, reported the ‘WHO.

It was the eighth week in a row with an increase in cases worldwide, with an effect in all age categories, although the proportion of young people who become ill and have severe symptoms is growing.

Deaths from the infectious disease have also increased for the fifth week in a row and topped three million since the pandemic began 16 months ago.

“It took us nine months to reach a million dead, four months to reach two million and three months to reach three million. Each of these deaths is a tragedy for families, communities and nations, ”said Ghebreyesus.

Experts from the health unit attributed this situation both to the increase in social contacts among the youngest and to spread of the most contagious variants of the coronavirus and in some cases also more aggressive.

The head of the WHO anticovid cell, Maria Van Kerkhove, said that social contact should not be believed to always involve meeting friends or similar situations, and recalled that many people have returned to their workplaces and formed close relationships with others.

Therefore, he stressed that while governments recommend teleworking, they must also create a framework to make this possible.

“We have the tools to check in a few months whether we are applying consistently and fairlyTedros reiterated with reference to vaccines.

Gift of Greta

The foundation of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg will donate 100,000 euros to the Covax system to fight against the inequality of vaccination against Covid-19. “The most vulnerable must be a priority,” defended the activist.

This was announced by the head of WHO, who thanked Thunberg for the donation so that “those who need it most can be vaccinated”.

During her speech, the activist defended that the most vulnerable “must be a priority” in terms of vaccination, for which she criticized that “.it is unethical for a high income country to immunize healthy people and young peopleat the expense of the most vulnerable or health workers in countries with less income “.

“We talk a lot about solidarity, but what prevails in the distribution of vaccines is nationalism, we are exposed. And that is why we are betting on the COVAX initiative for a more equitable distribution of vaccines,” said Thunberg.

Source agencies.

AFG