Copenhagen, June 13, (dpa/GNA) – The European Office of the World Health Organization (WHO), has warned people not to take the coronavirus pandemic lightly.
Although Covid-19 has no longer been defined as an international health emergency since the beginning of May, it still has a considerable global impact on health, WHO Europe said.
The virus will probably accompany mankind for years to come, if not forever. There is also a very real risk of new virus variants. “While the international public health emergency may have ended, the pandemic certainly has not,” WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge stressed.
WHO Europe believes it is time to put lessons learned into action and better equip health systems for future shocks. To this end, it has now launched what it calls a transition plan to provide Europe with the necessary capabilities and networks to rapidly identify, verify and report new health threats.
Member states must invest strategically and sustainably in pandemic preparedness, while remaining alert to new threats, the Copenhagen-based health experts said.
According to the organization, more than 270 million people have been infected with the coronavirus in the 53 European and Central Asian countries included in the WHO’s European region. More than 2.2 million people have died from it since January 2020.
Even though the number of hospital admissions and deaths has fallen sharply thanks to the increased immunity of the population, thousands of people are at risk of death every week.
GNA