Bad news, WHO predicts “very long” pandemic

Meeting on Saturday in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the coronavirus pandemic was undoubtedly going to be “very long”. The organization’s Emergency Council, which met for the fourth time since Friday to reassess the pandemic, “said it will certainly last very long,” the WHO said in a statement.

“The WHO continues to judge that the risk posed by Covid-19 is very high,” the statement added. “The emergency council” (made up of 18 members and 12 advisers) “affirmed the need for a response that must be national, regional and global” in the face of the pandemic. The coronavirus has affected at least 17.6 million people worldwide and killed more than 680,000, according to a census carried out by AFP from official sources.

Speed ​​up research
The emergency council called on WHO to give all countries pragmatic guidance on how to deal with the pandemic, “to decrease the risk of weakening responses to the epidemic, in a framework of socio-economic pressures ”. The council also recommended to the WHO to strengthen research on the still unknown points of the virus, in particular its animal origin and its possible modes of propagation by animal route. It also recommends that points such as “the modes of transmission [of the virus], its possible mutations, immunity and correlates of protection” be clarified.

The committee meeting, which lasted six hours, took place at WHO headquarters in Geneva, with a few participants being linked by video. It is planned to meet again in three months. “We are facing a health crisis such as the one we have only known for a century and its effects will be felt for decades,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday. “Many scientific questions have been resolved, many are still waiting to be resolved,” he added. “Most people on the planet can be affected, even those who do not live in hard-hit areas”.

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