Pandemic plateauing with deaths and cases declining – WHO
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The World Health Organization said on Monday the world was seeing a plateauing in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with declines in most regions including the Americas and Europe, the two worst-affected regions.
“But it’s an unacceptably high plateau, with more than 5.4 million reported COVID-19 cases and almost 90,000 deaths last week,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing.
The spread of variants, increased social mixing, the relaxation of public health and social measures and inequitable vaccination are all driving transmission, he added on Twitter: “Therefore, we need to use every tool at our disposal to drive transmission down, right now.”
The spread of variants, increased social mixing, the relaxation of public health and social measures and inequitable vaccination are all driving #COVID19 transmission. Therefore, we need to use every tool at our disposal to drive transmission down, right now. pic.twitter.com/47wje5w5LO
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 10, 2021
He added that even in countries with a downward trend in cases and with the highest vaccination rates, public health capacities must be strengthened to prepare for the possibility of vaccine-evading variants, and for future emergencies.
