Pandemic not over yet; global COVID cases declining due to drop in testing rates: WHO
World | April 27, 2022 11:29 ISTLast week, just more than 15,000 coronavirus-related deaths were reported to the WHO, the lowest weekly total since March 2020.
Last week, just more than 15,000 coronavirus-related deaths were reported to the WHO, the lowest weekly total since March 2020.
This will be Prime Minister's second visit to the state after BJP's victory in 4 states assembly elections including the high stakes one Uttar Pradesh, concluded in March this year. During his visit, PM Modi will inaugurate, lay foundation stones of various developmental projects.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India has shared its concerns with the methodology along with the other Member States through a series of formal communications including six letters issued to WHO.
The vaccine manufacturer has further said that the company is slowing down the production of Covaxin for facility optimization.
The frequency and magnitude of outbreaks of the arboviruses, particularly those transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, are increasing globally, fuelled by the convergence of ecologic, economic, and social factors.
The WHO brief said that young people, whose mental health has been affected by COVID-19, are disproportionally at risk of suicidal and self-harming behaviours.
The WHO chief made the remarks on Feb 18 at a panel discussion titled "Get Well Soon: Finding a Way Out of the Pandemic" during the ongoing Munich Security Conference, reports Xinhua news agency.
Many countries which reported an early rise in the number of cases due to the omicron variant have now reported a decline in the total number of new cases since the beginning of January 2022.
Earlier, World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed Covid symptoms take around five to six days to appear after infection. Latest reserch showed that symptoms start to develop very fast, on average about two days after contact with the virus.
WHO Director General Tedros reiterated his concern over the narrative taking hold in some countries that "because of vaccines, and because of Omicron's high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is no longer possible and no longer necessary."
On Sunday, WHO had said that Omicron is soon set to replace Delta globally as a result of its immunity evading potential.
“We have a chance to end the public health emergency this year if we do the things that we've been talking about," a WHO official has said.
"While Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated," Tedros said during a media briefing on COVID.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) said that as coronavirus evolves, the composition of current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated.
The strain is also known as the 'IHU' variant because it was first identified by academics at the IHU Mediterranee Infection institute in Marseille, France, reports Xinhua news agency.
The WHO official told journalists that it was possible to be infected by both influenza and COVID-19. However, since the two are separate viruses that attack the body in different ways, there is "little risk" of them combining into a new virus.
Tedros Ghebreyesus warned against "narrow nationalism and vaccine hoarding" in a new year statement, reports BBC.
The WHO noted that the rapid growth rate is likely to be a combination of both immune evasion and intrinsic increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant.
The UN-health agency had suggested that a new variant could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but it's still too early to say for sure.
"Globally, we have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, and very low testing - a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants. That's why we continue to urge countries to fully fund the ACT Accelerator, to ensure equitable access to vaccine, tests and therapeutics all over the world," Tedros said.
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