Covid-19 killed 10,000 people in Dec 2023 in 50 countries: WHO DG

ISLAMABAD: Although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, changing, and claimed almost 10,000 lives which were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2023, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.

There was a 42pc increase in hospitalizations and a 62pc increase in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions, compared with November 2023, Director General WHO Dr Tedros said in his opening remarks at a media briefing.

Dr Tedros maintained that data from various sources indicate increasing transmission during December, fuelled by gatherings over the holiday period, by the JN.1 variant, which is now the most commonly reported variant globally. These trends, however, are based on data from less than 50 countries, mostly in Europe and the Americas, Dr. Tedors said.

Just as governments and individuals take precautions against other diseases, we must all continue to take precautions against COVID-19. . “We continue to call on governments to maintain surveillance and sequencing and to ensure access to affordable and reliable tests, treatments and vaccines for their populations. And we continue to call on individuals to be vaccinated, to test, to wear masks where needed and to ensure crowded indoor spaces are well ventilated”, Dr. Tedros maintained.