Published 12:25 IST, October 27th 2020
WHO chief says countries must 'get ahead and stay ahead’ of coronavirus as cases spike
As global COVID-19 cases spiked to its highest level last week, UN health chief urged nations to “get ahead and stay ahead” of the virus.
As global COVID-19 cases spiked to its highest level last week, WHO Director-General urged nations to “get ahead and stay ahead” of the virus. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a virtual press conference on October 26, remarked that many countries on the northern hemisphere, particularly in Europe and America, were seeing a “concerning rise in cases and hospitalization,” which was subjugating already exhausted health systems. He stressed that countries now required to catch up , get ahead and continue to stay ahead of the infection, highlighting that there was no “magic solution” for the same.
US, India most affected by pandemic
His remarks come as the global toll of COVID-19 cases crossed 43,490,206 on October 27, the latest tally by John Hopkins University revealed. In addition, the number of coronavirus induced deaths soared to 1,159,425. America still continues to bear the brunt of the pandmeic recoreding more that 8,703,635 cases and 225,720 deaths till now. India, too, is facing an overwhelmingly health crisis registering over 7,946,429 cases and 119,502 fatalities till now.
The 55 year old biologist also reckoned that people across the world were experiencing mental and physical “pandmeic fatigue”. “No one wants more so-called lockdowns”, he acknowledged. Stressing that the global community need to stand strong he urged leaders to balance the disruption to lives and livelihoods with the need to protect health workers and health systems. In addition, he also said that pandmeic was everynoe’s businwsss highlighting that "trade-offs, compromises and sacrifices” must be made to keep the life going.
WHO Chief Warns Against 'Vaccine Nationalism
On Sunday, WHO warned against 'vaccine nationalism' and called for global solidarity in the rollout of any future Coronavirus vaccine. Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine to fight COVID-19, which has killed over 1.1 million people. Addressing the World Health Summit in Berlin, Ghebreyesus cautioned the rich nations saying that if they keep treatments to themselves they cannot expect to remain safe if poor countries remain exposed.
Updated 12:24 IST, October 27th 2020