COVID-19: Weekly deaths from this disease worldwide have fallen by almost 90% since January, according to WHO

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this Wednesday that the number of weekly deaths reported COVID-19 “In 2022, it has fallen by almost 90 percent from its peak in January.”

“Of course, we are in a much better position with the coronavirus pandemic than we were a year ago when we were in the early stages of the Omicron wave, with rapidly increasing cases and deaths,” Tedros recalled at the conference. which he summed up the results of 2022.

However, he warns that “there are still too many uncertainties and gaps to say the pandemic is over.” For example, you mentioned “gaps” in surveillance, testing and sequencing that lead to “a lack of understanding of how the virus is changing.” He also highlighted gaps in vaccination and treatment; as well as weaknesses in health systems that cannot cope with the increase in the number of patients with COVID-19flu and other diseases.

Overall, Tedros noted that the world has taken “tangible steps this year to make the changes needed to make future generations more secure.” In this sense, he recalled the creation of a new Pandemic Fund or mRNA Technology Transfer Center in South Africa to provide low- and lower-middle-income countries with the necessary knowledge to quickly produce their own vaccines.

The WHO Director-General recalls that “the world is currently facing many other emergencies” such as monkeypox, now known as smallpox. More than 83,000 cases have been reported in 110 countries, although the death rate remains low at 66 deaths.

China is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 after the lifting of restrictions

China’s anti-coronavirus policy has been lifted, but it has left the country virtually paralyzed, with empty streets and lines at pharmacies a month before the Lunar New Year holiday, which could lead to an even sharper rise in cases of the virus.

In major cities such as Beijing, the lifting of restrictions has led to an increase in infections, which, however, is not reflected in official statistics – China reported this Sunday only 2,097 new cases of covid detected the day before – after abandoning PCR tests. that residents had to pass several times a week in order to have access to any public establishment.

The reality is that these days, many are in “self-isolation” while they are being tested for antigens and, in line with the policy change, isolate themselves at home if they test positive, instead of being transferred to quarantine centers, as was the case. just a few weeks ago. . . .

(According to Europa Press and EFE)