WHO says Covid is one big wave, not seasonal
GENEVA/ LONDON/ BEIJING: A World Health Organization (WHO) official on Tuesday described the Covid-19 pandemic as “one big wave” and warned against complacency in the northern hemisphere’s summer, as the infection does not share influenza’s tendency to follow seasons.
“We are in the first wave. It’s going to be one big wave. It’s going to go up and down a bit. The best thing is to flatten it,” Margaret Harris said during a virtual briefing in Geneva.
“People are still thinking about seasons. What we all need to get our heads around is this is a new virus and... this one is behaving differently,” she added.
In the US, Senate Republicans have proposed a $1 trillion Covid-19 aid package hammered out with the White House, paving the way for talks with Democrats on helping Americans as unemployment benefits for millions of workers expire this week.
The US on Monday recorded 57,039 new cases in the past 24 hours, alongside 679 new fatalities, taking the total death toll towards 150,000.
In the UK, PM Boris Johnson said there are signs of a second wave of Covid-19 in Europe after Britain removed Spain from a list of countries deemed safe to travel to and return from, making a 14-day quarantine mandatory for arrivals from there.
Johnson said, “Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s happening in Europe... I’m afraid you are starting to see in some places the signs of a second wave.”
In China, a cluster in the port city of Dalian has spread to other provinces. China reported 68 new infections on Tuesday - the highest daily number since April.
The head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, Gao Fu, said he’s been injected with an experimental vaccine in an attempt to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved.