The world must step up efforts to combat Covid-19 – and countries must not let their guard down, warned the chief scientist at the World Health Organization on Monday as cases of coronavirus emerged around the world.
“We are in a very risky period,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, of the World Health Organization. “We need to double, this is not the time to slow down.”
The WHO warned last week that new cases of Covid-19 were increasing worldwide after six consecutive weeks of decline. More than 2.6 million new cases were reported in the last week of February, an increase of 7% over the previous week, according to the health agency.
He added that the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas recorded increases of between 6% and 14% each.
Although vaccines are increasing for us in the country, we cannot let our guard down.
Julie Morita
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
“This is partly due to the fatigue of the block, you know. It is due to people … perhaps becoming more casual because they think vaccines are on the way,” Swaminathan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. . New variants can also play a role, she added.
“We need to … do everything we know to keep these viruses under control, to keep transmission low until we have enough vaccines,” she said, warning that health systems could be overwhelmed again.
“Health professionals around the world are exhausted, they have been fighting it for over a year,” she added.
Other health experts have also expressed that it is not the time to be complacent.
Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said it is important to recognize that infections, hospitalizations and deaths are still high, even if they have fallen from their peak in the United States.
“It is still necessary to use our masks, to make social distance, to avoid large crowds, while we are being vaccinated,” she told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.
“Although vaccines are increasing for us in the country, we cannot let our guard down,” she said. “It is too early to relax.”