COVID-19 CLAIMED THE LIVES OF OVER 3.3 MILLION PEOPLE IN 2021: WHO CHIEF

Tue 21 December 2021:

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of over 3.3 million people this year, more than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined in 2020, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general.

The novel coronavirus continues to claim around 50,000 lives every week, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, but he told journalists that “2022 should be the year we end the pandemic” with the tools at hand.

Tedros was speaking at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first hybrid press conference for UN journalists in Geneva, which was the first of its kind since July 2020.

“The last time we hosted you, in July last year, none of us could have imagined that almost 18 months later, we would still be in the grip of the pandemic,” said the WHO chief of a meeting for journalists with the ACANU association of UN correspondents.

Omicron Spreading Faster Than Delta Variant

“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the briefing. “And it is more likely people vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 could be infected or re-infected,” Tedros said.

Their comments echoed the finding of the study by Imperial College London, which said last week the risk of reinfection was more than five times higher and it has shown no sign of being milder than Delta.

WHO officials said however that other forms of immunity vaccinations may prevent infection and disease. While the antibody defences from some actions have been undermined, there has been hope that T-cells, the second pillar of an immune response, can prevent severe disease by attacking infected human cells.

There are also the unreported deaths and the millions of excess deaths caused by disruptions to essential health services, he said.

Just one month ago, he explained that Africa was reporting its lowest number of cases in 18 months.

“Last week, it reported the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far. Africa is now facing a steep wave of infections, driven largely by the omicron variant,” said Tedros.

The WHO chief also noted that people who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 are more likely to become infected or reinfected from the omicron variant.

“All of us are sick of this pandemic. All of us want to spend time with friends and family. All of us want to get back to normal,” he said.

Tedros cautioned that many countries traditionally plan gatherings that can draw crowds over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and suggested they should reconsider events.

“Countries should be more careful and restrict mass crowds during this festival period. Postponing such organizations during this period will save more lives,” he added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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