We cannot pretend Covid-19 is not here: WHO Chief as death rate soars

Geneva (Switzerland), August 18: As the number of deaths due to Covid-19 increase, World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "we cannot pretend it's not there."

"Learning to live with Covid-19 doesn't mean we pretend it's not there. It means we use all the tools we have to protect ourselves, and protect others," Ghebreyesus tweeted.

In four weeks, there has been a global increase of 35% in Covid-19-related deaths.

The WHO Director gave a press briefing on Covid-19, monkeypox, and other global health issues and said, "On COVID-19, over the past four weeks, reported deaths globally have increased by 35 per cent. Just in the past week, 15,000 people around the world lost their lives to Covid-19. This is completely unacceptable when we have all the tools to prevent infections and save lives."

He added that everyone in the world is tired of the virus and the pandemic. "But the virus is not tired of us. Omicron remains the dominant variant, with the BA.5 sub-variant representing more than 90 per cent of sequences shared in the last month," Ghebreyesus said.

In a video, Ghebreyesus can be heard saying, "just in the past week, 15,000 people around the world have lost their lives to Covid-19. 15,000 a week is completely unacceptable when we have all the tools to prevent infections and save lives."

"None of us is helpless. Please get vaccinated if you're not, and get a booster (dose) if you need it. Wear a mask when you can't distance (yourself) and try to avoid crowds, especially indoors. there is a lot to talk about learning, to live with this virus but we cannot live with 15,000 deaths a week. We cannot live with mounting hospitalisations. We can't live with inequitable access to vaccines and other tools," he further stated.

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As of August 17, the WHO reported that there were 589,680,368 confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide, resulting in 6,436,519 fatalities. Over 9 crore cases, or the majority of these cases, have been reported from the United States, followed by India.

According to Ghebreyesus, there were nearly 7,500 cases of monkeypox reported last week, a 20% increase from the week before.

"More than 35,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported to WHO, from 92 countries and territories, with 12 deaths. Almost 7,500 cases were reported last week, a 20 per cent increase over the previous week, which was also 20 per cent more than the week before," he added.

The WHO director added that men who have sex with men are most commonly affected by monkeypox in Europe and the Americas.

According to data from Europe and the Americas, almost all cases of monkeypox are among men who have sex with other men. This highlights the need for all nations to create and deliver services and information that are specific to these communities in order to protect their health, human rights, and dignity.

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-PTC News