The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people. The next meeting of WHO experts to decide whether the pandemic is still an emergency will take place in October.
In recent years, the world has not been so close to to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic as it is now, said the head of the World Health Organization. This is his most optimistic view of the multi-year crisis that has killed more than six million people, writes Reuters.
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The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people and infected 606 million, shaking the global economy and overwhelming health systems.
The spread of vaccines and treatments has helped stem the death toll. and hospitalization, and the Omicron variant, which appeared at the end of last year, causes less severe diseases. The death rate from COVID-19 last week was the lowest since March 2020, the UN agency reports.
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As early as Wednesday, he again urged countries to remain vigilant and compared the pandemic to a marathon.
“Now is the time to run more and make sure we cross the line and reap the fruits of our hard work.”
Let us remind you that earlier a film about the first wave of the pandemic that swept the world appeared on the network.
Countries should carefully review their policies and strengthen them against COVID-19 and future viruses, Tedros said. He also urged countries to vaccinate 100% of their high-risk groups and continue testing for the virus.
The WHO stated that countries should maintain sufficient stocks of medical equipment and medical personnel.
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“We expect that in the future there will be waves of infections, potentially at different times around the world, caused by different sub-variants of Omicron or even different variants of concern,” said WHO senior epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove.
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“The summer wave of COVID-19 caused by Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 showed that the pandemic is not over, as the virus continues to circulate in Europe and beyond “, said a representative of the European Commission.
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According to a WHO spokesman, the next meeting of the Organization's experts will decide whether the pandemic is still a public health emergency of international concern , will take place in October.< /p>
