Coronavirus pandemic ‘a long way from over’—WHO chief

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

* Over 780 million vaccines have been administered globally, with over 8,365,802 doses in Africa

* Measures of wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing must be applied to reverse the trajectory

* The decline in cases and deaths shows this virus and its variants can be stopped

Reuters & Maravi Express

Confusion and complacency in addressing COVID-19 means the pandemic is a long way from over, but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures.

This was said by World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday as over 780 million vaccines have been administered globally, but measures including wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing must be applied to reverse the trajectory.

“We too want to see societies and economies reopening, and travel and trade resuming,” Tedros told a news briefing. “But right now, intensive care units in many countries are overflowing and people are dying – and it’s totally avoidable.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a long way from over, but we have many reasons for optimism. The decline in cases and deaths during the first two months of the year shows that this virus and its variants can be stopped.”

Transmission was being driven by “confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures.”

India has overtaken Brazil to become the nation with the second highest number of infections worldwide after the United States, as it battles a massive second wave, having given about 105 million vaccine doses among a population of 1.4 billion.

As of April 13, confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 55 African countries reached 4,360,387 while over 8,365,802 vaccinations have been administered across the continent.

Malawi has recorded 33,859 cases including 1,132 deaths and cumulatively, 212,615 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the country.

“We are at a critical point in the pandemic now,” adds WHO team leader on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove. “The trajectory of this pandemic is growing for the 7th week in a row.”

Noting that there had been a 9% rise in cases last week, the seventh consecutive week of increases, and a 5% rise in deaths, she added: “If you look at the epi (epidemic) curve and the trajectory of the pandemic right now, it is growing exponentially.”

Tedros said that in some countries, despite continuing transmission, restaurants and nightclubs were full and markets were open and crowded with few people taking precautions.

“Some people appear to be taking the approach that if they’re relatively young, it doesn’t matter if they get COVID-19,” he said.

In her Monday situation report, co-chairperson of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda also said mass gatherings including markets, public transport, workplaces, bars, family gatherings, group sports, churches and funeral ceremonies are acting as super spreaders of the disease.

She reiterated that much as the data shows reduction of new cases being reduced, new ones keep being registered — showing the coronavirus is still active.

“We need to reduce further and stop the spread of COVID-19 in our country,” she reiterated. “This calls for all of us to adjust our way of life and ensure that we are adhering to the preventive and containment measures wholesomely.”

She warned that the more people interact; the closer in distance the interaction is (less than one meter) and the longer the interaction lasts — the higher the risk of spreading or contracting COVID-19.

It is time for us to seriously consider re-organising our day to day activities and only make decisions that help to reduce the spread of the virus in our midst.

“We all need to treat everyone that we meet as a potential carrier of the virus and there is need to strictly follow all the preventive measures.”

In the past 24 hours of Monday, Malawi registered 32 new COVID-19 cases, 93 new recoveries and four new deaths and of the new cases, 30 were locally transmitted.

Cumulatively, 31,572 cases have now recovered at recovery rate of 93.3% while 134 were lost to follow-up — bringing the total number of active cases to 1,021.

There were four new admissions in COVID-19 treatment units and as of Monday, a total of 21 active cases were hospitalised — nine in Blantyre, five in Lilongwe, three in Mchinji, and one each in Balaka, Dowa, Kasungu, and Zomba Districts.

The positive cases out of the total on Monday’s data translates to a positivity rate of 4.8% while a weekly positivity rate (seven days moving average) is at 4.6%.

In the 55 African countries, South Africa has the most reported cases — 1,559,113 with related deaths at 53,356. Other most-affected countries are Morocco (502,277), Tunisia (272,940), Ethiopia (230,944), Egypt (211,307), Nigeria (163,837) and Libya (168,676).—Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz, Stephanie Nebehay (Reuters) & Duncan Mlanjira (Maravi Express)