WHO: Covid Is Still A Crisis, But It Is Approaching An "Inflection Point"

According to a significant advisory panel, the coronavirus pandemic may be approaching an “inflection point” where increasing levels of protection can reduce virus-related deaths.

The head of the World Health Organization said that the coronavirus still qualifies as a global health emergency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remarked, “There is no doubt that we’re in a significantly better condition now” than a year ago, when the highly transmissible Omicron form was at its worst, during the opening remarks of the WHO’s annual executive board meeting.

Tedros cautioned that at least 170,000 deaths related to the coronavirus had occurred globally in the last eight weeks.

He urged the complete immunization of at-risk groups, increased antiviral testing and early usage, and the expansion of lab networks.

We continue to believe that the world will enter a new stage in the upcoming year where hospitalizations and fatalities are kept to the absolute minimum.

Tedros’ remarks came shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) released the findings of its emergency committee on the pandemic, which revealed that approximately 13.1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered, with nearly 90% of medical professionals and more than four in five people over 60 having finished the first series of shots.

The committee noted that the COVID-19 pandemic might be nearing an inflection point, according to a statement from WHO.

Increased global immunity from infection or vaccination “may reduce the impact” of the COVID-19 virus on “morbidity and mortality.”

But for the foreseeable future, it was added, “there is little doubt that this virus will remain a permanently established disease in humans and animals.” Omicron versions are contagious, although in contrast to prior forms, “there has been a decoupling between infection and severe disease.”

Members of the committee highlighted “pandemic fatigue” and the growing belief among the public that COVID-19 poses less of a threat than it once did as reasons why people are increasingly choosing to neglect or reject health precautions, including mask use and social seclusion.