The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 81 million people worldwide may not be “the big one”, and the world will need to prepare for a potentially more serious pandemic.
“This is an alert,” said WHO emergency chief Michael Ryan during the latest news from the health agency. conference Monday.
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“This pandemic was very severe. It spread across the world extremely quickly and affected every corner of the planet, but this is not necessarily the biggest, ”said Ryan.
Ryan said that although the coronavirus is very transmissible and has deprived “so many people of loved ones”, its lethality rate is lower compared to other emerging diseases.
“From our point of view, the planet is fragile. We live in an increasingly complex global society. These threats will continue. If there is one thing we need to get out of this pandemic, with all the tragedies and losses, it is that we need to act together, ”he said.
As COVID-19 vaccines are being launched worldwide, WHO officials also said the likely scenario is that the coronavirus will become another endemic that will be a low-level threat to humans in the coming years. Ryan said that the existence of a vaccine is no guarantee of eradication of the disease, saying “this is a very high barrier for us to overcome”.
“Fortunately, we have tools to save lives and, in combination with good public health, will allow us to learn to live with COVID-19,” said David Heymann, chairman of WHO’s strategic and technical advisory group on infectious risks, during the briefing Monday.
It has been almost a year since the first reports of the coronavirus began to circulate after the virus appeared in China.
The United States was hardest hit by the virus, with more than 19 million people infected and around 335,000 deaths during the pandemic.
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