Matters are rising as a result of relaxation in public health measures, the circulation of changes and ‘people being let off guard’, the WHO chief executive says.
The number of new coronavirus diseases worldwide rose last week for the first time in seven weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing in Geneva that the rise in cases was “hopeless but not surprising”, noting that the upward movement was happening in all place in the world except Africa and the Pacific region.
“Some of it seems to be due to a relaxation of public health measures, a constant cycle of change and people dropping off guard,” he said.
For her part, Maria Van Kerkhove, the UN health agency’s technical director for COVID-19, described the increase as a “harsh warning to us all”, before adding: “This virus is going backwards. if we let it – and we can’t let it. “
To date, more than 114 million coronavirus cases have been diagnosed, including some 2.5 million associated deaths and 64.5 million recoveries, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, Tedros said it was too early for governments to just count on vaccination programs and ignore other measures to fight the disease.
“If countries are only dependent on vaccines, they are making a mistake. Basic public health measures continue to underpin the response, ”said Tedros.
However, he said it was encouraging that vaccine doses for medical workers in poor countries are finally being given, including in the West African countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The two countries on Monday were the first to start vaccinating people with doses administered by COVAX, the international program to provide vaccines to poor and middle-income countries.
The WHO leader also criticized rich countries for collecting vaccine doses, saying it was in everyone ‘s interests to protect vulnerable people around the world.
“It is unfortunate that this comes almost three months after some of the richest countries began their immunization campaigns,” Tedros said.
“Some countries continue to prioritize vaccination of younger adults at lower risk of disease in their own numbers, ahead of health workers and the elderly elsewhere.”
By the end of May, 237 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be ready for distribution in 142 poor countries.
Mike Ryan, WHO’s chief emergency expert, said the global fight against coronavirus was now in a better state than it was 10 weeks before the vaccines began to be distributed. But it was too early to say that the virus was coming under control.
“The question is about whether we are in control of the virus and that the virus is controlling us. And right now, the virus has great control. “