The World Health Organization (WHO) has again warned the world community about the threat of Covid-19. According to the agency under the auspices of the UN, the world needs to step up efforts to fight Covid-19 and countries must not let their guard down.
“We are at a very risky period,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan from WHO, cited from CNBC International’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday (8/3/2021).
Covid-19 Cases Reach 2,6 Million
WHO warned last week that new Covid-19 cases are increasing worldwide after six consecutive weeks of declines. More than 2.6 million new cases were reported in the last week of February, up 7% from the previous week.
He added that the East Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Europe and America each experienced an increase of between 6% and 14%.
“This is partly due to the fatigue of the lockdown … maybe being more casual because they think a vaccine is on its way,” said Swaminathan.
Previously, the Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, Dr. Mike Ryan, said the increase in cases may be because humans are too relaxed because of vaccinations. In fact, the world has not had the full impact of vaccines yet.
Ryan himself emphasized that the cause of the increase in cases is still unclear. However, current public health measures, such as wearing masks and washing hands and maintaining distance, still have to be taken.
Public must Follow The Health Protocols
Not only Dr Soumaya and Dr Mike, WHO zoonosis expert Maria Van Kerkhove also advised the public to keep strict adherence to health protocols.
“I can tell you what we are worried about is that with the introduction of vaccines and vaccinations in a number of countries, we still need people to take action at the individual level,” said Maria.
“Given this one week of increasing trends, this is a pretty stern warning to all of us that we have to stay on protocol path.”
All of these statements seem to agree with statements made recently by federal official in the United States (US) Dr Rochelle Walensky, who is the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
He has warned for days that the daily decline in new cases in the US has stalled and is currently increasing again.
“At the level of this case, with the variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the ground we have earned so hard,” said Walensky.
“With these statistics, I am really worried about more states canceling the proper public health measures we recommend to protect people from Covid-19.”
Read now: Biden Supports COVID-19 Aid Package, US Technology Stocks Fall
