End To Pandemic Not Likely In 2021 – WHO

Hamilton Nwosa
Writer
WHO Establishes New Scientific Group To Study COVID Origins

Ad

Central Banks Now Hold More Gold Than U.S. Treasuries

Key Takeaways For the first time since 1996, foreign central banks’ gold reserves have overtaken their U.S. Treasury holdings. Persistent gold buying and rising U.S. debt risks are reshaping reserve composition toward hard assets. Central banks have crossed a symbolic line: their combined gold reserves now exceed their U.S. Treasury holdings for the first time…

Alleged Christian Genocide: Nigerian Lawmakers Slam US Bill, Call It A “Malicious lie”

By Abiola Olawale The House of Representatives on Wednesday condemned a United States congressional bill accusing Nigerian officials of allegedly enabling "systematic" religious killings, particularly against Christians. Lawmakers branded the legislation a "gross misrepresentation" of the country's security woes, insisting that violence stems from terrorism and banditry, not state-sponsored persecution. This position comes in response…

Alleged ₦4bn Fraud: Drama as Kano Anti-Graft Agency Moves to Probe Ganduje’s Govt

By Abiola Olawale The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has launched an investigation into an alleged diversion of over ₦4 billion in public funds during the tenure of former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. The New Diplomat reports that the probe is said to be centered on the Dala Inland Dry Port project.…

Ad

The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes it is unlikely the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)will come to an end by the end of 2021.

“I think it will be very premature and unrealistic to think that we are going to finish with this virus by the end of the year,” Michael Ryan, director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said at a briefing on Tuesday.

“What we can, if we are smart, finish with is the hospitalisations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic,” Ryan added.

The WHO’s focus at present was to keep transmissions as low as possible and vaccinate more and more people.

The situation regarding the delivery of vaccine doses had already improved compared to 10 weeks ago, Ryan said, although there were “huge challenges” in distributing them and the virus still had the upper hand.

“If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalization, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate towards controlling this pandemic,” Ryan said.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 rose by 7 per cent worldwide, last week, the WHO said later on Tuesday.

This is the first increase following a fall in case numbers over the past six weeks.

In the last week of February, 2.6 million cases were reported to the UN agency in Geneva

The increase could be due to new and more contagious strains of the virus, the WHO said, citing easing of rules and fatigue with regulations as other possible causes.

The Middle East saw the largest rise of 14 per cent, followed by a 9-per-cent rise in South-East Asia. Case numbers also rose by 9 per cent in Europe and by 6 per cent in the Americas.

In contrast, nearly a quarter fewer cases were reported in Africa compared to the week before.

Likewise case numbers fell slightly in the Western Pacific region including East Asia and Australia.

According to WHO, vaccines do not provide immunity immediately but need several weeks before they become effective, and noted it would take even longer to protect whole populations.

That means testing, contact tracing, social distancing, masks and other hygiene measures remain critical.

NAN

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp