WHO : Pandemic not over yet
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning to world leaders that the coronavirus pandemic “is nowhere near over”. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against the assumption that the newly dominant Omicron variant is significantly milder and has eliminated the threat posed by the virus.
He said while the variant may prove to be less severe on average, the narrative that it is a mild disease is misleading,” He added that Omicron is causing hospitalisations and deaths, and even the less severe cases are inundating health facilities.
“Speaking purely of this as a mild virus or less severe gives an impression that this would be less severe in its impact on the health system. That is not the case if the virus is able to spread uncontrollably throughout society and that’s why we have advised continued adherence to measures,” said Mike Ryan, the WHO health emergencies programme executive-director.
The variant has currently had the highest level of immune escape, causing more infections among people who are vaccinated, officials said.
