The head of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned the world about the initial phase of the third wave of COVID-19. “Unfortunately, we are in the early stages of the third wave,” he said amid the ever-increasing spread of delta variants.
Tedros said the virus is constantly evolving and continues to contain more infectious mutations. Significantly, in the last few days, the number of infected and dead in the world has started increasing rapidly.
Tedros said that along with the spread of the delta variant, the number of infected and dead is increasing due to the movement of people and negligence in following the rules.
He warned that if the situation continues like this, the pace of infection that has slowed down due to vaccination in Europe and North America in recent months will start increasing again.
Many countries have lifted restrictions when the situation improves, and people are coming out of their homes in large numbers.
Cases increasing for four consecutive weeks
Regarding the spread of the delta variant, Dr Tedros said that this variant had been found in 111 countries so far, and it may soon become a major spreading variant worldwide. Last week was the fourth consecutive week in which the number of infected globally increased. Similarly, after 10 days of continuous decline, there is also an increase in deaths due to COVID-19.
Dr Tedros has also drawn the world’s attention to the “shocking disparity” in the distribution of vaccines and life-saving equipment. He said that on the one hand, while rich countries are removing restrictions by buying enough doses, and on the other hand, some countries have not yet received the vaccine. He again reiterated that 10 per cent of each country’s population needs to be vaccinated by September this year to control the pandemic.
The WHO chief stressed that the epidemic could not be faced with the help of vaccines alone, and for this, it is necessary to follow the rest of the rules. These rules include wearing masks, following social distancing, preventing crowd gathering and implementing restrictions if needed. He said that many countries worldwide have shown that the virus can be stopped through these steps.