- WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says virus is running free.
- Number of Covid cases reported to WHO has increased 30 percent in the past two weeks.
- Infections are driven by sub-variants of the Omicron strain and lifting of control measures.
Fresh surges of Covid infections show the pandemic is nowhere near over; WHO’s chief lamented Tuesday, warning that the virus is running free.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was in worry that case numbers were shooting up; putting more strain on health systems and workers.
The number of Covid cases reported to the WHO increased 30 percent in the past two weeks; driven by sub-variants of the Omicron strain and the lifting of control measures.
“New waves of the virus demonstrate again that Covid-19 is nowhere near over. As the virus pushes at us, we must push back,” he insisted.
He told a news conference that as transmission increases, governments must also deploy tried-and-tested measures like mask-wearing and improving ventilation.
“Sub-variants of Omicron, like BA.4 and BA.5, continue to drive waves of cases; hospitalisation and death around the world,” Tedros said.
“Surveillance has reduced significantly — including testing and sequencing — making it increasingly difficult to assess the impact; of variants on transmission, disease characteristics, and the effectiveness of counter-measures.”
Furthermore, tests, treatments and vaccines are not in deployment effectively.
“The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity;” he said, both in terms of hospitalisation of acute cases and the expanding number of people with Long Covid.
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