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| Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, December 20, 2021. — Reuters |
- WHO's Tedros warns against lurching between "panic and neglect" amid COVID pandemic.
- Pandemic in third year, with nearly 6 million dead.
- More variants likely to follow Omicron, WHO warns.
GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that it became dangerous to expect the Omicron version might herald the give up of COVID-19's acutest segment, exhorting international locations to live centered to overcome the pandemic.
"It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron can be the last variation and that we're in the end recreation," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised a WHO govt board meeting of the 2-yr pandemic that has killed almost 6 million people.
"On the contrary, globally the situations are best for extra editions to emerge."
Though Omicron has despatched total cases soaring to almost 350 million, its much less deadly effect and the growing occurrence of vaccines has led to optimism in some components that the worst of the pandemic may additionally have exceeded.
Tedros, the WHO's first African head who is running unopposed for a second term, entreated area and harmony in combatting the coronavirus.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is now coming into its third yr and we are at a crucial juncture," he instructed a news convention in advance. "We need to paintings collectively to convey the extreme phase of this pandemic to an stop. We cannot let it continue to pull on, lurching between panic and neglect."
Germany biggest donor
Countries should maximise techniques and equipment already available, which includes checking out and inoculation, for the worldwide health emergency to quit this year, he stated.
Tedros' bid for a second term received a boost when the WHO shelved a selection on his local Ethiopia's request to research accusations of hyperlinks to rebellion forces.
He told board participants he became looking for an overhaul of the company's investment version, with Germany now the most important donor, supplanting Washington which had accused the WHO of pro-China bias under former President Donald Trump's administration.
The United States is resisting a financing proposal that could make the UN fitness body greater impartial, raising doubts about the Biden management's long-term aid.
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