‘We must end COVID pandemic in 2022’ – WHO Chief Tedros

SWITZERLAND: As the COVID-19 pandemic continue to wreak havoc across the world after the emergence of new variants, the World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday opined about taking strict measures to end it.

He urged the world to pull together and make difficult decisions needed within the next year as he said that “2022 must be the year we end the pandemic.”

Ahead of the end-of-year festivities, he told the reporters in Geneva that it’s better to cancel events “now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later” and urged the countries to avoid crowd gatherings as it would be a “perfect platform” for Omicron to spread. “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,” he said.

It’s almost been a month since the first case of Omicron was detected. The early evidence suggested that the variant has a large number of mutations.

It has already started fueling new waves of COVID-19 in a few countries like the United Kingdom. Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been identified in dozens of countries. The scientists have said that there’s a possible increased risk of reinfection. However, the indications are mere speculations as experts are probing the immune escape potential of the Omicron variant.

– FRANCE 24