Geneva: The World Health Organization has again warned that COVID-19 variant Delta is the most transmissible of the variants identified so far. It has been identified in at least 85 countries, and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations.
WHO has further warned that as some countries eased public health and social measures, “we are starting to see increases in transmission around the world”. The increase in cases means more hospitalisations which would further stretch health workers and health systems, “which increases the risk of death”.
“I know that globally there is currently a lot of concern about the Delta variant, and WHO is concerned about it too,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists here last night (IST).
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Dr. Ghebreyesus said that as the WHO has been saying, new variants are expected and will continue to be reported – “that’s what viruses do, they evolve – but we can prevent the emergence of variants by preventing transmission”. According to im, it was quite simple: more transmission, more variants. Less transmission, less variants.
“That makes it even more urgent that we use all the tools at our disposal to prevent transmission: the tailored and consistent use of public health and social measures, in combination with equitable vaccination,” the D-G said and emphasised that this was the reason why the WHO had been saying for at least a year that vaccines must be distributed equitably, to protect health workers and the most vulnerable.
– global bihari bureau
