Geneva: The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned leaders of the world at the 73rd World Health Assembly that they must treat the virus with the respect and attention it deserves.
Dr Tedros expressed, “This a dangerous enemy, with a dangerous combination of features: this virus is efficient, fast, and fatal.”
“It can operate in the dark, spread silently if we’re not paying attention, then suddenly explode if we aren’t ready. And moves like a bushfire. We have seen the same pattern repeated in cities and countries the world over,” he further expressed.
We must treat this virus with the respect and attention it deserves, Dr Tedros cautioned.
4.8 million people have been infected with positive COVID-19 and over 317,000 people have died globally so far.
“The health impacts of the pandemic extend far beyond the sickness and death caused by the virus itself. The disruption to health systems threatens to unwind decades of progress against maternal and child mortality, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, mental health, polio and many other of the most urgent health threats,” Dr Tedros elaborated.