Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director normal of the World Well being Group (WHO), speaks throughout a information convention on the COVID-19 coronav
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director normal of the World Well being Group (WHO), speaks throughout a information convention on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, March 2, 2020.
Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg through Getty Photographs
Some international locations are on “a harmful monitor” within the coronavirus pandemic and hospitals are starting to achieve capability forward of winter, the top of the World Well being Group mentioned Friday.
“Too many international locations are seeing an exponential enhance in instances and that is now resulting in hospitals and ICU operating shut or above capability and we’re nonetheless solely in October,” Director-Basic Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned throughout a press briefing.
He referred to as on world leaders the place instances are surging to “course right as shortly as potential.”
“We’re at a important juncture on this pandemic, significantly within the Northern Hemisphere,” he added.
“The subsequent few months are going to be very powerful and a few international locations are on a harmful monitor.”
Covid-19 has unfold to greater than 41.eight million folks throughout the globe because it emerged in late December, killing greater than 1.1 million, in response to knowledge compiled by Johns Hopkins College, shuttering companies and devastating economies from the U.S. to Asia.
WHO officers warned final week that coronavirus outbreaks in Europe have change into “regarding.” The area continues to report a “fast enhance in instances and deaths,” with new instances rising 25% over the week, in response to a WHO state of affairs report revealed Tuesday.
France, the UK, Russia, the Czech Republic and Italy contributed to over half of all reported instances throughout that interval, the report says.
Within the U.S., outbreaks taking maintain within the Midwest have led to a big spike in new instances. The nation reported greater than 71,600 new coronavirus instances on Thursday, approaching a file variety of every day infections set in late July.
Even for international locations which have efficiently suppressed their outbreaks, Tedros mentioned “now could be the time to double down” and to take fast motion for arising clusters.
“We urge leaders to take speedy motion to stop additional pointless deaths, important well being providers from collapsing and colleges shutting once more,” Tedros mentioned on the group’s Geneva headquarters. “This isn’t a drill.”
Dr. Mike Ryan, government director of the WHO’s well being emergencies program, mentioned a second wave of infections is “not solely potential however extremely probably wherever on the planet.” Ryan mentioned some international locations which have been capable of suppress their outbreaks did not “comply with by means of” on testing, contact tracing and isolation, together with different measures to cut back the virus’ transmission, and allowed the illness to “creep again in.”
“No nation is out of the woods,” he mentioned.
Whereas new instances have accelerated, coronavirus fatalities have remained comparatively secure, in response to the WHO. Nevertheless, fatalities sometimes lag infections by a number of weeks. Deaths have began to creep up in Europe, the Jap Mediterranean area and Africa during the last seven days.
“We have to forestall transmission, however we additionally must concentrate on decreasing the demise toll, which can rise within the coming days — I’ve little doubt,” Ryan mentioned.