The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said that Covid-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one. This comes a month after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the end of the pandemic is “in sight”.
Meanwhile, India on Thursday recorded 2,141 new cases, bringing the total active caseload to 25,510. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus while talking to the media said, “This pandemic has surprised us before and very well may again.” The WHO committee highlighted five priority areas to end the emergency. This includes tracking variants of the Covid virus, surging medical capacity to treat patients, vaccination, ensuring access to affordable therapeutics and a robust global pandemic preparedness architecture.
The committee further said, “Although the public perception is that the pandemic is over in some parts of the world, it remains a public health event that continues to adversely and strongly affect the health of the world’s population.” The WHO’s statement comes even as the total number of patients who tested positive for the XBB variant of Covid-19 crossed 70 cases across India. The cases were reported across several states including Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu.