Geneva: WHO chief on Wednesday, appealed for support from nations, after the top world health body recorded a rise in the death toll globally. “COVID isn’t finished with us”, he said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, launching a new $23 billion campaign to fund WHO’s efforts to lead a fair rollout of COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines around the world, cautioned that “diseases know no borders” and the highly-transmissible omicron variant has shown that “any feeling of safety can change in a moment.”
“Depending on where you live, it might feel like the COVID-19 pandemic is almost over, or, it might feel like it is at its worst,” he added. WHO, bringing together leaders like South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre as well as health ministers, led a pitch on Wednesday for new funding for its ACT-Accelerator program to get COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to people around the world.
Since the Omicron Variant, WHO reported more than 19 million new COVID-19 cases and just under 68,000 new deaths. As per reports, the global COVID tally on Wednesday surpassed 400 million as the highly contagious less severe Omicron variant dominates the surge pushing health care to the brink. The US leads the world in the most cases reported each day. Fresh cases and hospitalizations in the country have reportedly slowed down from the peak in January. Meanwhile, India on Last Friday observed record mortalities surpassing 500,00.