“Last week, COVID-19 claim a life every three minutes – and those are the only deaths we know of,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, speaks to the media at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
Based on WHO Coronavirus Dashboard collated key statistics from the beginning of the pandemic, cumulative cases worldwide now stand at 765.222,932with nearly seven million deaths: the exact number is now 6,921,614.
As of April 30, a total of more than 13.3 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide.
‘Still killing, still changing’
He said the virus – which was first declared a public health emergency of international concern by the head of the WHO on January 30, 2020 – is still here: “It is still killing and it is still changing. The The risk remains of emerging variants causing new increases in cases and deaths.”
He said the decision was not taken lightly. Over the past year, the WHO-led Emergency Committee has carefully examined the data, at just the right time to lower the alarm.
For more than 12 months, the pandemic”there has been a downward trend”, he said, with increasing immunity due to highly effective vaccines being developed in record time to fight diseases and infections. Mortality rates have fallen and the pressure on once overwhelmed health systems has eased.
“This trend has allowed most countries back to life as we know it before COVID-19,” added Tedros.
‘Flow of misinformation and misrepresentation’
But he reflects that the impact of the pandemic has “expose political mistakes, within and between countries. It has trust is eroded between people, governments and institutions, fueled by a flurry of misinformation and misinformation.”
Tedros also noted the enormous damage the virus has caused to every aspect of global life, including massive economic upheavals, “removing trillions of dollars from GDP, disrupting travel. and trade, closing businesses and plunging millions into poverty.”
He reminded that as he was speaking, thousands of people around the world are continuing to fight for their lives in intensive care, and millions more will live in the near future. , “with debilitating effects” of the post-COVID situation, aka “long-term COVID”.
The head of WHO said to some extent the end of the state of emergency was a time to celebrate, and he expressed admiration for the “incredible skill and selfless dedication of the staff”. health and care practitioners” worldwide.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus briefs WHO headquarters with a call for support for global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access of new COVID-19 tools (pictured) take a shot).
Reflecting on the ‘deep scars’
But on another level, it’s a time for deep reflection, with COVID continuing to leave “deep scars on our world”.
“These scars must serve as a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emergewith devastating consequences,” he said.
Learn from mistakes
Many mistakes have been made, including a lack of coordination, fairness and solidarity, which means that existing tools and technologies are not being used at their best to fight the virus.
“We must promise ourselves and our children that we will never make those mistakes again“, I said.
“This experience must change us all for the better. It must make us more determined to fulfill the vision that countries had when they founded WHO in 1948: the highest possible standard of health for all.”
