The Director-General of the World Health Organization indicated, on Friday, that the number of deaths related to the Covid-19 virus has risen since the beginning of December, at a meeting to decide whether the disease remains an international emergency.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus further noted that “the lifting of restrictions (to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2) in China has led to a sharp increase in deaths in the world’s most populous country.”
The official, who was speaking at the opening of the 14th meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19, said the global response to the disease “continues to fail”, because in many countries “vaccines, treatments and diagnostics (…) are essential in preventing disease dangerous and life-saving measures have yet to reach those most in need.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, addressing the members and advisors of the committee chaired by Doctor Didier Hussein: “Next Monday marks three years since I decided, on your advice, that a hitherto unknown outbreak of coronavirus constitutes an international public health emergency.”
He said he expected the committee to assess him and advise him on whether the situation was still serious enough to justify the WHO’s maximum alert level.
Entering the fourth year of the pandemic, the director-general of the United Nations health agency announced that it was “in a much better position than it was a year ago, when the Omicron (virus variant) wave was at its peak and there were more than 70,000 deaths per week being reported to the WHO.” global it.”
But he noted that in October last year, when the committee last met, “the number of reported weekly deaths was” less than 10,000 per week, “while last week the World Health Organization was reported” about 40,000 deaths (…) More than half are in China.
“In all, over the past eight weeks, more than 170,000 deaths have been recorded,” and “the real number is certainly much higher.”
The committee, which includes 17 members and 11 advisors, should finish its meeting next Friday, and the outcome of the deliberations is expected to appear in the next few days.
