WHO warns of drawn-out pandemic
GENEVA (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) warned, Saturday, the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be “lengthy” after its emergency committee met to evaluate the crisis six months after sounding the international alarm.
The committee “highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic,” the WHO said in a statement, and warned of the risk of “response fatigue” given the socio-economic pressures on countries.
The panel gathered Friday for the fourth time over the coronavirus crisis, half a year on from its Jan. 30 declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — the WHO’s highest level of alarm.
“WHO continues to assess the global risk level of COVID-19 to be very high,” it said following the meeting.
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 680,000 people and infected at least 17.6 million since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
Unsurprisingly, the panel, comprising 17 members and 12 advisers, unanimously agreed that the pandemic still constitutes a PHEIC.
Several countries around the world have imposed strict lockdowns in a bid to control the spread of the respiratory disease, plunging economies into sharp contraction.
The committee urged the WHO to provide nuanced, pragmatic guidance on COVID-19 management “to reduce the risk of response fatigue in the context of socio-economic pressures.”
The panel urged the WHO to support countries in preparing for the rollout of proven therapeutics and vaccines.
PARIS (AFP) — Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency, the novel coronavirus has killed more than 680,000 people and infected more than 17.5 million, according to an AFP tally.
The UN health agency on Saturday warned that the coronavirus pandemic would be lengthy and could lead to “response fatigue,” as India and the Philippines reported a record rise in new cases.
Mexico also overtook Britain to became the third hardest hit country for virus deaths after Brazil and the U.S. with over 46,600 fatal cases.
The outlook was bleak in Asia as well.
India and the Philippines reported record increases in new daily infections at 57,000 and 5,000, despite tightened restrictions. “We are waging a losing battle against COVID-19, and we need to draw up a consolidated, definitive plan of action,” said an open letter signed by 80 Filipino medical associations.
Japan’s Okinawa declared a state of emergency after a record jump in cases on the island — many linked to US military forces stationed there.
Hong Kong meanwhile opened a new makeshift hospital to house COVID-19 patients after cases rose to new highs.
Vaccine race
The pandemic has spurred a race for a vaccine with several Chinese companies at the forefront, while Russia has set a target date of September to roll out its own medicine.
However U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said it was unlikely his country would use any vaccine developed in either country, where regulatory systems are far more opaque than they are in the West.
“I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone,” he said.
As part of its own “Operation Warp Speed,” the U.S. government will pay pharma giants Sanofi and GSK up to $2.1 billion for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, the companies said.
Berlin ‘Day of freedom’
France, Spain, Portugal and Italy all reported huge contractions in their economies for the April-June quarter, while Europe as a whole saw gross domestic product fall by 12.1 percent.
In a sign of the trade-offs being forced on European governments, Britain imposed new restrictions Friday on millions of households in northern England.
Norway, where infection numbers have been rising in recent days, recorded its first virus death in two weeks.
At least 36 crew members confined on a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the company Hurtigruten said on Saturday.
Despite the resurgence in cases, there have been demonstrations in Europe against the curbs. On Saturday, thousands protested in Berlin urging “a day of freedom” from the restrictions.
“We are the second wave,” shouted some, as marchers headed for the Brandenburg Gate while others called for “resistance,” dubbing the pandemic “the biggest conspiracy theory.”
Fresh off a bout of COVID-19, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said nearly everyone will probably end up catching the new coronavirus.
His comments came as Brazil’s death toll closes on 100,000.
Travel trouble
The pandemic continued to cause mayhem in the travel and tourism sectors with more airlines announcing mass job cuts.
Latin America’s biggest airline, the Brazilian-Chilean group LATAM, said it would lay off least 2,700 crew.
Tanzania banned Kenya’s national airline from entering the country effective Saturday as part of a deepening row triggered by Tanzania’s controversial handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
British Airways pilots meanwhile overwhelmingly voted to accept a deal cutting wages by 20 percent with 270 jobs lost.
Hoping for more tourists to return, Greece reopened six of its main ports to cruise ships for the first time in the coronavirus-shortened tourism season.