The WHO warns the Delta variant will reach 200 million infections within 2 weeks

The WHO warns the Delta variant will reach 200 million infections within 2 weeks

The WHO warns the Delta variant will reach 200 million infections within 2 weeks

The WHO has warned that the Delta variant will reach 200 million infections within 2 weeks.

The director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has expressed his concern about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus and warned that in the next two weeks the figure of 200 million people infected worldwide will be reached.

“The pandemic will end when the world decides to end it and that is in our hands because we have all the tools for prevention, testing and treatment,” said Tedros, lamenting that, despite this, the number of cases of infection and deaths from the coronavirus continues to increase.

In fact, in five of the six WHO regions, Covid-19 infections have increased by 80 percent in the last four weeks, especially as a result of the emergence of the delta variant, which has now been detected in 132 countries.

“This variant is worrying because it has greater transmissibility, as it has certain mutations that allow the virus to adhere to cells more easily, although so far it has not been shown to increase deaths,” added WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, warning that there will be more variants and that “the more they circulate, the stronger they become”.

Tedros warned that the increase in infections, beyond this variant, is also caused by the greater number of contacts that are occurring, the relaxation of public health measures and the “inequitable use” of vaccines against the coronavirus.

He recalled that the WHO has set a target of 10 percent of the world’s population being vaccinated by the end of September and 70 percent by the end of 2022, although Tedros warned that it is still “a long way” from achieving these goals, as less than a quarter of countries have vaccinated 40 percent of their citizens.

“The world is on the brink of catastrophic moral failure and the distribution of vaccines remains unfair, with less than two per cent of doses distributed in Africa, leaving only 1.5 per cent of the continent’s population fully vaccinated. This is a very serious problem if we want to end the pandemic,” he stressed.

Finally, Tedros stressed the need to increase oxygen supplies to the 289 countries that currently need it, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) for health professionals and diagnostic tests.


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Ron Howells

Ron actually started his working career as an Ophthalmic Technician- things changed when, during a band rehearsal, his amplifier blew up and he couldn’t get it fixed so he took a course at Birmingham University and ended up doing a degree course. He built up a chain of electronics stores and sold them as a franchise over 35 years ago. After five years touring the world Ron decided to move to Spain with his wife and son, a place they had visited over the years, and only bought the villa they live in because it has a guitar-shaped swimming pool!. Playing the guitar since the age of 7, he can often be seen, (and heard!) at beach bars and clubs along the length of the coast. He has always been interested in the news and constantly thrives to present his articles in an interesting and engaging way.

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