“The Pandemic is Far From Over,” According to WHO

• Amidst the increasing number of coronavirus cases and deaths, the World Health Organization has confirmed that the pandemic is “far from over.”
• Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this during a recent news conference in Geneva.
• The WHO director general also expressed concerns about immunization efforts for children, especially among poor countries.

As the number of coronavirus cases continue to increase by the day across the world, the World Health Organization has reminded us about the grim reality: we’ve got a long way to go in battling the disease.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director General of WHO, recently said in a virtual news conference that “the pandemic is far from over.”

We still have a long road ahead of us…

According to him, the health institution remains worried regarding the “increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries.”

He further explained that infections and deaths are still “underreported in many countries” because of limited testing capabilities.

Ghebreyesus also shared how the virus has caused a major disruption to many basic health services – such as vaccines for children in less-fortunate areas.

As the WHO official pointed out:

“Children may be at relatively low risk from severe disease and death from COVID-19… but can be at high risk from other diseases that can be prevented with vaccines.”

In a post on the official WHO website, we read: that vaccines “protect against more than 25 debilitating or life-threatening diseases, including measles, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, meningitis, influenza, tetanus, typhoid and cervical cancer.”

Immunization efforts across the globe have been delayed because of overwhelmed healthcare systems and government-implemented community lockdowns.

The director general likewise asked for greater unity among countries in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

“If we are not united, the virus will exploit the cracks between us and continue to create havoc,” said Ghebreyesus.

As of April 28, the world has reported 3,074,553 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 211,773 deaths and 924,979 recoveries.

So far, the United States remains to be the worst-hit country with 1,010,507 people infected and a death toll of 56,803.