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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/who-warns-covid-19-pandemic-still-volatile>
"GENEVA - The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday warned that the
Covid-19 pandemic is still volatile, saying there could be further trouble
before the virus settles into a predictable pattern.
In the preceding 28 days, more than 23,000 deaths and three million new cases
have been reported to the WHO, in the context of much-reduced testing.
While the numbers are decreasing, “that’s still a lot of people dying and
that’s still a lot of people getting sick”, WHO health emergencies programme
director Michael Ryan told a press conference.
He said respiratory viruses do not pass from a pandemic to an endemic phase,
but instead move to low levels of activity with potentially seasonal epidemic
peaks.
“We don’t turn off a pandemic switch,” said Dr Ryan.
“It’s much more likely that we’re going to see... a bumpy road to a more
predictable pattern.”
The WHO’s emergency committee on Covid-19 meets every three months and is due
to assemble in early May.
As at its previous meetings, it will decide whether the virus still constitutes
a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) – the highest level
of alert that the UN health agency can sound.
The WHO declared Covid-19 a PHEIC on Jan 30, 2020, when there were fewer than
100 cases and no deaths outside China.
But it was not until WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the
situation as a pandemic in March 2020 that the world was jolted into action.
Dr Ryan said the virus would not be eliminated and would, like influenza, still
cause significant respiratory disease in vulnerable people."
Via Dave Farber.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
