“Make no mistake: we have a long way to go,” warned WHO’s chief Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus while giving an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in Geneva today.
Dr Tedros praised the physical distancing practices and stay-at-home orders for “successfully suppressed transmission in many countries,” but he cautioned that “early evidence suggests most of the world’s population remains susceptible. That means epidemics can easily re-ignite.”
“We see different trends in different regions, and even within regions. Most of the epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stable or declining,” said Tedros. “Although numbers are low, we see worrying upward trends in Africa, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe. Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics. And some that were affected early in the pandemic are now starting to see a resurgence in cases,” he added.
Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, expressed a cautious optimism when it comes to the spread of the coronavirus in Africa.
“I believe that with a focus on preparation, on surveillance and community mobilization, and on the undoubted capacity for innovation and science in Africa, that we can avoid the worst of this pandemic,” said Dr Ryan. “We have to find a way forward, in Africa that can balance the risk of the virus against the risk to people’s livelihoods and people’s lives at the same time.”
As for the spread of virus across South and Central America, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme said: “there’s increasing trends in terms of case numbers, in a number of countries in Central and South America. And of course, this is a worry because what we are seeing is that once the virus has an opportunity to take hold, and to really transmit between people, if measures are not in place, then it can take off very, very quickly.”
According to the WHO, as of 22 April, there are 2 471 136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally. Some 169 006 people have died after being infected by the virus.
