OMS advierte que la pandemia de covid no ha terminado / WHO warns Covid still a threat

POR EFE – El mundo «continúa en pandemia de covid-19, mientras el virus sigue evolucionando», advirtió hoy la jefa técnica de la Organización Mundial de la Salud contra esta enfermedad, María van Kerkhove, quien recordó que cientos de miles de personas continúan siendo hospitalizadas por este motivo.

En una rueda de prensa organizada ante el aumento de los casos de covid, gripe y otras enfermedades respiratorias a nivel global, Van Kerkhove aclaró que aunque la situación es mucho menos grave que la de 2021 o 2022, el riesgo sanitario que el coronavirus implica sigue siendo alto, dado que el patógeno circula por todos los países.

«El número de muertes se ha reducido drásticamente desde el pico alcanzado hace un par de años, pero todavía tenemos alrededor de 10.000 decesos mensuales, y eso sólo es con datos de medio centenar de países», alertó.

La mitad de las muertes reportadas el mes pasado, por ejemplo, provienen únicamente de Estados Unidos, por lo que se teme que numerosos casos no están siendo debidamente reportados.

EFE

WHO warns Covid still a threat

BY AFP – What you need to know:
The World Health Organization said data from various sources pointed to increased transmission last month, fuelled by gatherings over the Christmas holiday period and by the JN.1 variant, which is now the most commonly-reported around the globe

Almost 10,000 Covid-19 deaths were reported in December, the WHO said on Wednesday, as it warned the virus remained a major threat despite partially passing under the radar.

The World Health Organization said data from various sources pointed to increased transmission last month, fuelled by gatherings over the Christmas holiday period and by the JN.1 variant, which is now the most commonly-reported around the globe.

“Although Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, changing, and killing,” the UN health agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Besides the near 10,000 deaths reported to the WHO last month, there was a 42 percent increase in hospitalisations and a 62 percent increase in intensive care unit admissions, compared with November.
However, the figures are based on data from less than 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas, Tedros said.

“It is certain that there are also increases in other countries that are not being reported.

“Just as governments and individuals take precautions against other diseases, we must all continue to take precautions against Covid-19.

“Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable death is not acceptable.”

Tedros urged governments to maintain virus surveillance and sequencing, and to ensure access to affordable and reliable tests, treatments and vaccines.

“And we continue to call on individuals to be vaccinated, to test, to wear masks where needed and to ensure crowded indoor spaces are well ventilated,” he said.

Tedros declared an end to Covid-19 as an international public health emergency in May 2023, more than three years on from when the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.