 director-general has warned world leaders that the coronavirus pandemic is "far from done."){kind=link}
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general has warned world leaders that the coronavirus pandemic is “far from done.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned against assuming that the newly prevalent Omicron form is substantially milder and that the virus is no longer a threat.
The action comes as some European countries report new case counts that are at all-time highs.
On Tuesday, France recorded over half a million new cases every day.
On Wednesday, more than 100,000 new infections were recorded in Germany in less than 24 hours for the first time since the pandemic began.
Dr Tedros informed reporters at a news conference at the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva that the Omicron variety had caused 18 million new infections around the world in the previous week.
While the variety may be milder on average, he believes “the notion that it is a minor condition is incorrect.”
“Make no mistake: Omicron is causing hospitalizations and fatalities, and even the milder instances are clogging up hospitals.”
“With the extraordinary spread of Omicron internationally, new varieties are likely to arise,” he told world leaders, “which is why tracking and assessment remain crucial.”
“I am particularly concerned about many nations with poor vaccination rates, because those who are unvaccinated are many times more at risk of severe illness and death,” he added.
Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s head of emergency, also warned that Omicron’s heightened transmissibility will likely lead to a surge in hospitalizations and deaths, particularly in countries where vaccination rates are low.
“Regardless of the severity of individual variants, an exponential increase in instances leads to an unavoidable increase in hospitalizations and deaths,” he stated.
As the new Omicron variety spreads across Europe, new coronavirus infections are becoming more common.
On Tuesday, officials in Denmark reported a daily record of 33,493 new cases of Covid-19, while health officials in Italy reported 228,179 new infections, up from 83,403 the day before. On Wednesday, Germany recorded a new high of 112,323 new cases, while the incidence rate of illnesses per 100,000 persons reached a new high of 584.4 during the previous week.
In the meantime, France reported 464,769 new daily infections on Tuesday, up from 102,144 on Monday and setting a daily record for the pandemic. Infections are now averaging over 300,000 new cases each day on a weekly basis.