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11:10 pm
Tuesday 08 December 2020
Books – Ahmad Jumaa:
On Tuesday, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean held a videoconference press conference on developments in the Corona pandemic in the Eastern Mediterranean.
At the start of the conference, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, confirmed that the Corona pandemic continues to take a worrying course with the onset of winter throughout the region, noting that few countries have made further progress in fighting the pandemic. While other countries are still witnessing an unprecedented increase in the number of cases and sometimes even deaths.
Al-Manzari added, “Egypt is witnessing a steady increase in the number of cases and deaths, as the number of cases exceeds 400 cases per day. Pakistan also reports an increase in cases and deaths, most of them in the province of Sindh “.
He continued: “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, we have been working with all the countries of the Region to provide guidance and recommendations for an effective response. We have provided supplies, equipment and technical expertise, and trained frontline health workers. And we have been interested in educating local communities. Reviewing the lessons learned. “
3 shots
Al-Mandhari emphasized that the announcement by some countries to provide a vaccine to their population for initial use gives us a ray of hope that the end of the pandemic will soon become a reality, and while we hear recent encouraging news about the safety and effectiveness of at least three vaccines, several vaccines are still in phase III trials.
He noted that the World Health Organization and its partners seek, through the installation of Kovacs, to ensure the equitable distribution of effective vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, once they are included in the lists of vaccines used in emergency situations. emergency or obtain permission from a competent regulatory authority. The Kovacs facility will prioritize access to the vaccine for approximately 20% of the most vulnerable population.
The height of the second wave
Al-Mandhari said that the countries of the region cannot be said to have reached the peak of the second wave of the emerging coronavirus, and we still notice an increase in the number of daily cases recorded.
Al-Manzari added: “There is a discrepancy in the number of daily cases in various countries in the region. Some countries are still witnessing a daily increase in the number of registered cases, and we have also started to notice a decrease in the number of cases. registered in other countries, so we did not reach the peak. “
Evolution of Jenny?
The WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean explained that almost 170,000 genetic tests have been carried out for the emerging corona virus since the first case appeared in China at the end of last year.
Al-Manzari added: “Through these analyzes, no change in the spread pattern, speed or symptoms of the virus was noted and therefore the virus remains of the same nature until now.”
Back closure?
Al-Mazari does not expect the return of closure measures to economic activities and travel restrictions in general, despite the recent increase in the number of injured.
He said: “We do not expect the closure measures to return, because the measures taken by the countries in terms of closing the entry points and ending the meetings was after studying the speed of spread of the disease and the presence of a greater number of people, so the countries took these measures in order to equip their health systems to attend to the cases.
He continued: “Most countries currently have the experience to deal with the disease, and their health systems have been able to go through many experiences despite the current challenges, and health systems have also been able to improve culture and awareness. of the society”.
He hoped that countries would take measures similar to what happened in the first wave of the virus, but with less severity, in line with economic, social and cultural needs, with the commitment to save lives.
The number of Egyptian wounded
Dr. Richard Brennan, Director of Health Emergencies of the Regional Office of the World Health Organization, said that the number of daily cases infected with the emerging coronavirus, recorded by the Egyptian Ministry of Health, “does not reflect the real number of infections in the country “.
Brennan added: “Various countries use different testing strategies to monitor Corona injuries and, for example, the Egyptian government decided to focus its testing on a subset of citizens, especially those with complex and critical illnesses, and therefore it is likely that those with mild or moderate symptoms do not get tested. (PCR) “.
He continued: “The official number of injured is only an estimate, and therefore in these contexts we see that these numbers do not reflect the actual number of injured, but to understand more, we are looking at other indicators that include the number of deaths, the capacity of hospitals and people in intensive care wards … the official figures are lower. ” It is true, but we are following other indicators to see the response to the pandemic. “
He explained that there is an increase in the number of cases in Egypt, and we are closely discussing these trends with health officials to help us provide advice.
Pfizer vaccine
Brennan said that the Pfizer Corona virus vaccine needs a temperature of “-70” to store it, and this requires special equipment for that.
Brennan added that “all vaccines need early shelf life to be effective, but most vaccines are at a temperature of -2 or -8, and the Pfizer vaccine needs a temperature of -70.”
He continued: “What we need now is an ultra-cold series and specific tools to deal with the Pfizer vaccine, and we are working in this field. We have experience and knowledge in treating these vaccines, for example the Ebola vaccine, and work is underway to develop jobs and tools, and we also provide technical assistance to countries to help them. We also offer Distribution and Publishing Instructions.
Recurrence of infection
Evan Hooten, director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Communicable Disease Control, said that acquired immunity to corona infection does not last long and that perhaps whoever is infected in the first wave will have protection against the second wave.
He added that the severity of the coronavirus infection in the second wave is unknown, and the matter is still under study.
