The Covid-19 pandemic “is far from over” and even “accelerating”, warned the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, calling on the world to act now without waiting for a vaccine.
“Tomorrow, six months will have passed since WHO received the first reports concerning a group of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in China,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world, and our lives, would be upset by this new virus,” he added, during a virtual press conference.
Six months after China officially reported the disease in December, the new coronavirus has killed more than 500,000 people worldwide. And more than 10 million cases have been identified, nearly half of which are now considered cured.
“We have already lost so much”
“We all want it all to end. We all want to take back our lives. But the harsh reality is that it is far from over, ”said the head of the WHO. He also reiterated that the pandemic is “accelerating” now. “We have already lost so much, but we cannot give up hope,” he added.
Stressing that a vaccine will be an “important tool” to control the virus in the long term, he called on governments and citizens to put in place “simple solutions” in order to “save lives now”.
He therefore called on governments to “test, trace, isolate and quarantine cases”, asking people to respect hygiene measures, to wear a mask when necessary and to respect the rules of distancing.
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