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WHO: Covid Deaths Keep Rising as World Records Most Cases Ever in a Single Week
Posted
April 20, 2021
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1:42Now PlayingUpdating reporters on the overall COVID-19 situation, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world had witness eight weeks of increased cases, with more than 5.2 million cases reported last week alone – “the most in a single week so far.” He said deaths rose for the fifth straight week, and more than three million deaths have now been reported to WHO. He stressed, “It took 9 months to reach 1 million deaths; 4 months to reach 2 million, and 3 months to reach 3 million.
Big numbers can make us numb. But each one of these deaths is a tragedy for families, communities and nations. Infections and hospitalizations among people aged 25 to 59 are increasing at an alarming rate, possibly as a result of highly transmissible variants and increased social mixing among younger adults.”
The WHO Director-General said the world has the tools to “bring this pandemic under control in a matter of months, if we apply them consistently and equitably.” He added that WHO issued an expression of interest for establishing a COVID-19 technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines, to increase production of those vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.
He said, “We are calling for the original manufacturers of mRNA vaccines to contribute their technology and know-how, and for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to express interest in receiving that technology. We have seen incredible innovation in science; now we need innovation to ensure as many people as possible benefit from that science.
"Commenting on Ethiopia’s Tigray, Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said the situation there “could not be more dire” and is deteriorating. Ryan said there are humanitarian and health crises facing the region and expressed concern about “malnutrition, about malaria, about cholera, measles, COVID-19 - positivity rates have been rising - and other diseases like meningitis and other diseases that will exploit malnutrition.”
He added, “We have resumed surveillance activities, but only covering about 30 percent of the population. And again, severe acute malnutrition is a major, major issue. It is very hard to overstate the extent of the humanitarian crisis and the health crisis currently unfolding in Tigray. And WHO and the other UN agencies and NGOs are calling for unfettered humanitarian access and for military conflict and those perpetrating the conflict, to remove themselves from civilian areas and those who should not be there, should not be there.”
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