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“The virus will be with us for a long time.” This was the alert call given by the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, so that the world remains on alert for the COVID pandemic- 19 despite the reduction of cases in some of the most affected countries in Europe.
“In some countries the pandemic is in its preliminary phase, in others there are outbreaks … much remains to be done and the virus will be with us for a long time,” the Ethiopian warned at a press conference.
After stressing that the world is approaching 2.5 million cases and that it has already surpassed 160,000 deaths, the WHO’s highest official stated that social distancing measures “have successfully halted infections in many countries, but the virus is still very dangerous. “
Tedros indicated that one of the greatest risks in the current phase is “falling into complacency” and acknowledged that it is understandable that in many countries where the population has been confined for several weeks, people feel “frustrated”.
The epidemiologist affirmed that, even in the countries where the misunderstandings begin, things will not be the same as before, but that a “new normal” will be adopted in which it is expected that the population will be “better prepared” for future epidemics.
“I’d rather focus on saving lives.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also defended WHO’s work in this pandemic, noting that the agency made the right decisions when this new coronavirus emerged in China.
“In retrospect, I think we declared the emergency in its proper time,” on January 30, explained the director general, who has been accused by the United States of excessive benevolence towards Beijing. The world “had enough time to respond” to this health emergency, he said.
On a more personal level, the executive rejected today the criticism of his management of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially raised in the US, and stressed that he will continue to work “day and night” focused on fighting the coronavirus.
“Criticism will come from all sides, but I have no energy to respond to it, I prefer to focus on saving lives,” he said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is syndicated as a capstone in this controversy, because after Donald Trump’s announcement last week that the United States would suspend his country’s contribution to the WHO, some Republican congressmen have suggested calling for the resignation of the Ethiopian doctor as a condition to resume the national contribution.
The expert replied in this regard that during his three years in office he has worked for the reform of the organization and now continues to do so day and night, “because it is a blessing to have this job and the responsibility to save lives.”
New balance
Meanwhile, WHO-confirmed cases of COVID-19 reached 2.47 million today, with more than 80,000 infections diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
The number of deaths worldwide is 169,006, more than 6,000 reported after the previous WHO daily update, which represents a new upswing in both the number of new cases and the number of deaths.
Europe, with 1.21 million infections, continues to concentrate half of the infections on the planet, followed by America, with 925,000 cases, and could exceed one million affected before the end of this week.
However, in the number of deaths, Europe, with more than 106,000 deaths, far exceeds the more than 42,000 deaths on the American continent.
The United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and France remain, in this order, as the most affected countries in number of cases.
Of the six countries, Spain, Italy, Germany and France show in their graphs descending curves in the number of infections since the beginning of the month, although with some rebounds on certain days.
The UK and US, which may have peaked in mid-April, still show no clear downward trends.
According to statistics from health authorities, the patients recovered on the planet today exceeded the 700,000 line, while those in serious or critical condition remain, as in previous days, around 57,000.
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