Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Warning that the pandemic’s second year will be “far more deadly” than the first, World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that India’s Covid-19 pandemic situation remains “hugely concerning”, with many states continuing to see a worrying number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
At a media briefing on Friday, he said the WHO is responding to the Covid-19 surge in India and has shipped thousands of oxygen concentrators, tents for mobile field hospitals, masks, and other medical supplies.
“India’s situation remains hugely concerning, with several states continuing to see a worrying number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths,” he said while thanking the stakeholders supporting India.
Currently, India is suffering from a deadly second wave of the pandemic, with 3.26 lakh new infections and 3,890 deaths recorded in 24 hours ending Saturday morning. The South Asian nation’s tally crossed the 10 million mark on December 19, 2020, and doubled within six months, on May 4.
But Ghebreyesus pointed out that the emergency-like situation was not restricted to India. “Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Egypt are just some of the countries that are dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalizations,” he said adding that some countries in the Americas still have high numbers of cases and, as a region, the Americas accounted for 40 percent of all pandemic deaths last week.
Some countries in Africa have also seen spikes. “These countries are in heightened response mode and WHO will continue to provide support in all ways possible,” he said.
Underlining that Covid-19 has already claimed over 33 lakh lives across the world, Ghebreyesus said, “We’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first.”
He lamented that vaccine supply remains a key challenge and that saving lives and livelihoods with a combination of public health measures and vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic.