PremiumWHO had earlier this week said that 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the Omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago — amounting to more than in all of 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic
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As cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus surge across the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday took to Twitter to list out protocols we need to follow to win the war against Covid.
“We can all win against Omicron if we: Get vaccinated, Keep a safe distance and avoid crowds, Wear a well-fitting mask, Keep indoor spaces well ventilated by opening windows to bring in fresh air, Clean hands often, Cover coughs and sneezes (sic)," said WHO.
This comes days after the UN health agency said that 90 million cases of coronavirus have been reported since the Omicron variant was first identified 10 weeks ago — amounting to more than in all of 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With many countries easing their restrictive measures amid public fatigue about them, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyeus cautioned that Omicron should not be underestimated even though it has shown to bring less severe illness than earlier variants — and cited "a very worrying increase in deaths in most regions of the world."
“We are concerned that a narrative has taken hold in some countries that because of vaccines — and because of omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity — preventing transmission is no longer possible and no longer necessary," he said.
“Nothing could be further from the truth," Tedros added. “It’s premature for any country either to surrender or to declare victory. This virus is dangerous and it continues to evolve before our very eyes."
WHO said four of its six regions worldwide are seeing increasing trends in deaths, even as many European countries have begun easing lockdown measures, including Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands.
“Now is not the time to lift everything all at once. We have always urged — always urged — caution in applying interventions as well as lifting those interventions in a steady and in a slow way, piece by piece," said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19.
Dr Michael Ryan, the WHO emergencies chief, said countries with higher vaccination rates “have more choices" about whether to ease their restrictions, but said they should assess factors like their current epidemiology, at-risk populations, immunity in the population, and access to health care tools to fight the pandemic.
Speaking to countries' governments, he said: “Every country has to find its feet, know where it is, know where it wants to go, and chart its path ... You can look at what other countries are doing. But please don’t just follow blindly what every other country is doing."
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