Coronavirus crisis unlikely to be over by the end of the year, WHO warns

WASHINGTON: Despite the spread of Covid-19 being slowed in some countries due to lockdowns and vaccination programmes, it is “premature” and “unrealistic” to the think the pandemic will be over by the end of the year, the World Health Organisation’s executive director of emergency services has said.

Speaking at a press briefing Geneva, Dr Michael Ryan said while vaccinating the most vulnerable people, including healthcare workers, would help remove the “tragedy and fear” from the situation, and would help to ease pressure on hospitals, the “virus is very much in control”. “It will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that we’re going to finish with this virus by the end of the year,” Ryan said.

“If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic.”

The number of new global infections rose last week for the first time in almost two months. Reported cases increased in four of the WHO’s six regions: the Americas, Europe, south-east Asia and the eastern Mediterranean.

“This is disappointing, but not surprising,” said the director general of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“We’re working to better understand these increases in transmission. Some of it appears to be due to relaxing of public health measures, continued circulation of variants, and people letting down their guard.”

He said while vaccines would help to save lives, “if countries rely solely on vaccines, they’re making a mistake”. “Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response,” he said.

Tedros also highlighted inequality in vaccine access. He welcomed the first Covid-19 vaccine doses being administered in Africa on Monday, in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

But he added that “it’s regrettable that this comes almost three months after some of the wealthiest countries started their vaccination campaigns”. “And it’s regrettable that some countries continue to prioritise vaccinating younger, healthier adults at lower risk of disease in their own populations ahead of health workers and older people elsewhere,” he said.

“Countries are not in a race with each other, this is a common race against the virus. We’re not asking countries to put their own people at risk. We’re asking all countries to be part of a global effort to suppress the virus everywhere."

We are also concerned about the reported arrest of health workers in Myanmar that could affect the response to Covid-19 and the delivery of other essential health services.

And in Ethiopia, the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region has put many health facilities and hospitals out of action. We are deeply concerned about the risk of diseases due to lack of food, clean water, shelter and access to health care.”

Meanwhile, insults, beatings, arrests -- health workers battling the coronavirus were subjected to more than 400 acts of violence related to Covid-19 worldwide in 2020, according to a report published on Tuesday by a health NGO.

The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition unveiled an interactive map that shows 1,172 violent acts and attacks occurred against health workers or facilities last year, "a minimum estimate", according to the NGO.

More than a third (412) of the acts are directly related to Covid-19, it said, citing several examples including in Mexico, where a nurse was attacked and injured by a group accusing her of spreading the virus.

In Dakar, three social workers had stones hurled at them by residents who refused to have a coronavirus victim buried near their homes.

In Birmingham, England, a health worker was spat at and insulted by a neighbour.

The vast majority, 80 percent, of the perpetrators of the violence were civilians, but threats also came from public authorities.

In Egypt, health workers who criticised the regime’s handling of the pandemic were arrested by security forces and accused of spreading false information and of belonging to a terrorist group.

Insecurity Insight, which developed the interactive map, also recorded 802 attacks in countries at war or on victims of civil conflicts, such as the bombing of hospitals in Yemen and the kidnapping of doctors in Nigeria.

"The map shows that violence and intimidation against health care was a truly global crisis in 2020, affecting 79 countries," said Insecurity Insight director Christina Wille in a statement.

Leonard Rubenstein, the president and founder of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition and a professor at Johns Hopkins University, called on international governments to protect health workers, including by fighting disinformation.