The World Health Organization declared the covid-19 pandemic three years ago. As of March 2020, according to WHO data, approximately 760 million people have been confirmed infected with the new coronavirus, and around 6.8 million have died.
A pandemic covid refers to the spread of an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first cases of this were discovered in China in December 2019, after which it quickly spread around the world. Because of this, on January 30, 2020, the WHO named the disease covid-19, first declared a global threat to public health, followed by the declaration of a pandemic on March 11.
After a three-year period, which was marked especially in the first two years by measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the WHO emphasizes that the pandemic is not over yet – it is said to be in a transitional phase – and maintains the related emergency conditions. They expose still a high number of people who die from covidand medical institutions are said to be overburdened in many places.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus admitted at the end of January that the world is in a much better position like a year ago, for example, when the wave of the micron variant was at its peak and the WHO was reporting more weekly like 70,000 deaths. At the end of February, the organization listed a few more in one week like 6000 deaths due to covidand even more at the peak of the pandemic in January 2021 like 100,000.
The measures in individual countries are not affected by the declared state of emergency, as they are decided by the countries themselves. In contrast to the previous two years, the last year was mainly marked by the elimination of the remaining restrictions on public life.
The masks are slowly saying goodbye
Among the last measures that are slowly disappearing is, for example, the wearing of masks in certain public spaces, especially hospitals and public transport. Some countries are already eliminating mandatory isolation for those infected, although the WHO still officially recommends ten days of isolation for those infected with symptoms and five days if they do not feel any signs of the disease. In Austria, for example, they will all be anti-coronavirus the measures were lifted on June 30, and in the USA on May 11.
After three years of the strictest restrictions in the world as part of the zero tolerance policy, China also suddenly lifted the vast majority of measures last December. This was followed by a spike in infections, reports of overcrowded hospitals and a high death toll, with China counting only those who died directly from respiratory failure related to covid. In mid-February, Beijing declared victory over covid.
Despite the overall calming of the situation, the WHO still warns of the importance of vaccination and insufficiently vaccinated, saying that the new coronavirus, which appears in ever-new variants and sub-variants, will certainly remain a pathogen in humans and animals in the near future. So far, according to the organization, several have been distributed like 13 billion doses of vaccine.
The WHO urges countries to prepare long-term action plans for the prevention, monitoring and control of infections and to remain vigilant even after the end of the emergency.
Warnings before a new pandemic
There are also warnings from several quarters that the world, despite the experience with covid is not adequately prepared for a possible new pandemic. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) recently warned that preparing for future pandemics should include building public confidence in vaccination and health measures. The world should also eliminate inequalities in the field of health.
Crucial to the continued fight against covid or in avoidance knowing the origin of a possible new pandemic should also be important covid. But after three years of controversy, it continues to raise the question of whether the virus was transmitted to humans by an animal or whether it may have escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.
The latter is recent like the likely origin of the spread of the disease was identified by several authorities in the United States, and in Beijing like so far this theory is strongly denied. The WHO emphasizes that for now “everything hypotheses about the origin remain on the table”.
These very days also mark 20 years since the WHO like recognized the threat of the new coronavirus related, less contagious but more deadly sars virus-covalso known simply as like Sars.
It was first officially recognized in late February 2003 during an outbreak in China that spread to four other countries. Over the next four months, the virus spread to several like 20 countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. According to WHO data, a total of 8,098 people fell ill, of which 774 died.
Source: Rtvslo
