WHO: DON’T ACT LIKE THE PANDEMIC IS ENDING

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general this week issued a word of caution to countries and people who have ceased practicing COVID-19 safety measures, saying the pandemic is far from over.

 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday expressed his concerns that the international response to the coronavirus pandemic was now lagging, pointing to an observed reduction in virus surveillance and the mismanaged deployment of vaccines and treatments.

 

“The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalization for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post COVID-19 condition — often referred to as long COVID,” Tedros said.

 

The WHO leader noted how the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants — now dominant in many countries, including the U.S. — have recently driven waves of hospitalizations and deaths globally.

 

“New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over,” Tedros said.