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Covid-19 will haunt the planet for a long time, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning that most countries are still in the early stages of fighting the pandemic.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries that thought they had the new coronavirus under control were seeing a resurgence in cases, while there were worrying upward trends in Africa and the Americas.
He also insisted that the UN health agency had declared a global emergency in due time on January 30 for countries to prepare and plan their response.
The body has been widely criticized by the United States for its handling of the pandemic, but Tedros rejected the resignation requests.
“Most of the epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stable or in decline,” Tedros said at a virtual press conference in Geneva.
“Although the numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe.
“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics. And some who were affected early in the pandemic are now beginning to see a resurgence in cases.
Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time. “
The global death toll has topped 175,000, according to a count from official sources compiled by AFP, while there have been more than 2.5 million reported cases since the epidemic first erupted in China in December.
Tedros was pressured as to whether the WHO had acted quickly enough.
“Looking back, I think we declared the emergency at the right time” on January 30, he said, adding that the world “had enough time to respond.”
