World

‘End is in sight’ for Covid-19 pandemic, says WHO director-general

Deaths last week from virus were at lowest level since March 2020 but ‘this is not the time to relax or let down our guard’, Tedros warns

Director-general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking in Tel Aviv on September 12th. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Wed Sep 14 2022 - 15:30

The world has never been in a better position to end the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday, urging nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people.

“We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference.

Deaths from Covid-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the UN agency reported.

While the WHO expects continued future waves of Covid-19 infections, the world had tools in hand such as vaccines and antivirals to prevent serious infections, said Maria Kerkhove, technical lead for Covid-19.

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Monkeypox cases, too, were on a downtrend but Mr Tedros urged countries to keep up the fight.

“As with Covid-19, this is not the time to relax or let down our guard.”

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Ukraine

Also on Monday, Mr Tedros said the WHO expects a rise in Covid-19 in Ukraine to peak in October, possibly bringing hospitals close to their capacity threshold.

“We are now seeing an increase in cases of Covid-19 in Ukraine. We project that transmission could peak in early October and hospitals could approach their capacity threshold,” Ghebreyesus told WHO’S Regional Committee for Europe conference in Tel Aviv.

“Oxygen shortages are predicted because major supply sources are in occupied parts of the country,” he said.

Oxygen is essential for patients with a range of conditions, including Covid-19 and those with other critical illnesses stemming from complications of pregnancy, childbirth, sepsis, injuries and trauma.

Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has greatly impacted healthcare, with the WHO confirming more than 500 attacks on health infrastructure there, resulting in some 100 deaths. Ghebreyesus also said that the war could increase polio spread.

“We are also deeply concerned about the potential for the international spread of polio due to the gaps in immunisation coverage and mass population movement linked to the war,” he said.

Ukraine has low vaccination coverage for both Covid and polio, an infectious disease mainly affecting children that can cause paralysis and kill in rare cases. Two cases of polio were reported in Ukraine in 2021.

This year, Israel, Britain and the US have all reported polio transmission in major cities, raising concerns about the infection spreading more widely. — Reuters

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