World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus states the ongoing pandemic is the sort of disaster whose effects will last far into the future. Speaking at the WHO emergency committee meeting, he said, “The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come.”
The ongoing pandemic has killed over 6,93,154 people till Monday across the world. The United States, Brazil, Mexico and Britain have been particularly hard hit in recent weeks with their governments struggling to cope. Over 150 pharmaceutical companies are working on vaccines, the WHO said. Tedros said although knowledge about the new virus has advanced, several questions remain unanswered and populations remain vulnerable.
Tedros said, “Early results from serology (antibody) studies are painting a consistent picture: most of the world's people remain susceptible to this virus, even in areas that have experienced severe outbreaks. Many countries that believed they were past the worst are now grappling with new outbreaks. Some that were less affected in the earliest weeks are now seeing escalating numbers of cases and deaths.”
The organization “highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this Covid -19 pandemic” and warned of the risk of “response fatigue”. It said in a statement, “WHO continues to assess the global risk level of Covid-19 to be very high. The committee highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this Covid-19 pandemic, noting the importance of sustained community, national, regional, and global response efforts.”
