How to tackle the risk of ‘Long Covid’, WHO explains
Premium- Kerkhove, also one of the WHO's top experts on Covid-19, listed five factors that continue to drive Covid-19 transmission globally
World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove on Sunday said the risk of ‘Long Covid’, severe disease and death can now be tackled with tools, which might reduce the risk of further variants.
“We can invest in the public health systems we need now and for the future now," the WHO epidemiologist has said.
Kerkhove, also one of the WHO's top experts on Covid-19, listed five factors that continue to drive Covid-19 transmission globally:
- Continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 resulting in more transmissible variants and variants with immune evasion
- Unequal access to life saving tools including PPE, diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines (#VaccinEquity)
- Increased social mobility and social mixing combined with
- Inappropriate and inconsistent use of proven Public Health & Social Measures (masks, distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene…)
- Misinformation, disinformation, conflicting messaging, politicization and false narratives
Earlier, the WHO chief had said that 90 million cases of Covid-19 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 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 told a regular WHO briefing on the pandemic.
“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 had said that four of its six regions worldwide are seeing increasing trends in deaths.
Many European countries have begun easing lockdown measures, including Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. Finland will end its COVID-19 restrictions this month.
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