Chief of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said during a news conference on 12 July that the Covid-19 pandemic is “nowhere near over”.
He expressed his worry that health systems will be overworked by the rising cases, as he highlighted the new waves of the virus emerging.
He said that the new waves of the virus demonstrate again that the pandemic is nowhere near over, and as the “virus pushes at us, we must push back.”
Tedros further added that the virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalisation for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post-Covid condition (often referred to as Long Covid).
He added that “as Covid-19 transmission and hospitalisations rise, governments must also deploy tried and tested measures like masking, improved ventilation and test and treat protocols.”
The emergency committee of the WHO, also determined that the pandemic remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which is the highest alarm that they can sound.