“This pandemic is far from over,” warned the head of the WHO on Wednesday, almost two years to the day after uttering the word that made the whole world understand the seriousness of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19.
“This Friday will mark two years since we said that COVID-19 spreading around the world could be called a pandemic,” recalled the Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press briefing in Geneva, still virtual.
He did not fail to recall that six weeks earlier, “when there were only 100 cases recorded outside of China and no deaths”, he had triggered the highest level of health alert in the WHO — a public health emergency of international concern. But this qualification had not struck the spirits and the Organization was later criticized for having taken too long to take the measure of the catastrophe to come.
“Two years later, more than 6 million people have died,” he said.
Although the WHO has noted for some time that the number of infections and the number of deaths are falling, “this pandemic is far from over and it will not be over anywhere if it is not over everywhere”, underlined the boss of the organization.
The WHO noted very strong growth in the Western Pacific region, although globally the number of new infections and deaths fell by 5% and 8% respectively, according to the weekly epidemiological report.
“The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major hurdles in getting vaccines, tests, and treatments to wherever they are needed,” said Dr.r Tedros.
Screening tests – which detect new variants – are a source of concern for the WHO, its boss noting that “several countries have radically reduced their tests”. “It prevents us from seeing where the virus is, how it is spreading and how it is changing,” he warned.
The testing strategy in South Africa had thus made it possible to detect the Omicron variant very quickly at the end of November 2021. It is now ultra-dominant.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads the WHO’s fight against COVID-19, also warned against the drop in the number of tests which can give a false impression of the real number of infections. “The virus continues to spread at far too high an intensity level, as this pandemic is in its third year,” she said.
“Although we are seeing downward trends, we still listed 10 million confirmed cases globally last week,” she recalled.
“We must remain vigilant,” she warned, at a time when many countries – in Europe in particular or in the United States – have abandoned the essential health restrictions intended to control the spread of the disease. .