The world needs to work together as a tipping point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic nears amid growing infections across countries and continents, says the World Health Organization.
“We were prepared for a challenging start to 2021 and it has been just that”, Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said.
The virus which spread out of China at the end of 2019 has hit countries harder in the second wave after relatively lower numbers of infections at some places at the end of the summer.
At the same time, the administration of a variety of vaccines is underway, raising hopes that the world may finally be able to curb the infectious disease.
But WHO says right now it is a challenging moment for everyone.
https://www.viewsnews.net/2020/11/24/race-covid-19-vaccine-begins-says-poor-not-trampled/
Despite the availability of new tools in the fight against the disease like vaccines, and more insight into the virus “we remain in the grip of COVID-19”, he said.
“This moment represents a tipping point in the course of the pandemic – where science, politics, technology, and values must form a united front, in order to push back this persistent and elusive virus”, he told reporters.
Throughout 2020, more than 26 million cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the WHO European Region, which comprises 53 countries.
Over a quarter of States are seeing a very high incidence of the disease and strained health systems.
According to the organization, currently, more than 230 million people are living in countries under full national lockdown, and more governments are expected to announce lockdowns in the coming week.
Dr. Kluge said the impact of the recent holiday period, characterized by family gatherings and the relaxing of preventive measures such as physical distancing and wearing masks, cannot yet be determined.
As regards the virus mutation, WHO says the SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern has been detected in 22 countries in the region.
“This variant is ‘of concern’ as it has increased transmissibility. So far, we understand there is no significant change to the disease this variant produces, meaning the COVID-19 is not more, nor less, severe,” he said.
The variant spreads across all age groups, and children do not appear to be at higher risk.
“It is our assessment that this variant of concern may, over time, replace other circulating lineages – as seen in the United Kingdom, and increasingly in Denmark.”
