It’s only been five years since A new virus came into our lives and it did so to stay. Covid-19 produced its first cases in December 2019. It was in the Chinese city of Wuhan and the rest is history. The World Health Organization (WHO) notified these cases on December 31, issued successive alerts and finally ended two months later declaring it a pandemica threat that has so far produced 776 million confirmed cases and more than seven million deaths in 234 different countries.
These are the numbers that the WHO has now published with global data for the last five years until November 10, 2024. According to the organization, although this disease is no longer seen as a threat, this year another 3 million global cases have been declareda figure very far from the 445 million that occurred in 2022, the year with the most infections recorded.
Of those 3 million cases, about 70,000 ended up resulting in death, a number that is 50 times less than the 3.52 million deaths that occurred in 2021 due to covid-19, the deadliest year of all. As the WHO points out, thanks to vaccination and its evolution towards more contagious, but less lethal variants, this virus has already become a pathogen comparable to the flu.
Most cases thus produce only mild or moderate symptomsbut the truth is that this disease can still be dangerous in older people or those who belong to vulnerable groups. The WHO, after analyzing residential waters from different countries, also estimates that the actual circulation of the virus could be up to 20 times higher to the one that is officially managed.
Likewise, another of the great concerns for the organization five years after its appearance is the persistence of the so-called like “long covid”, one that can affect multiple organs such as the heart, brain or lungs and that is estimated to affects 6% of serious cases after his recovery.
It all started in Wuhan
To analyze what happened with covid-19, we must go back five years, when China identified the first cases of this still unknown virus. On December 31, they were officially notified to the WHO. and five days later, on January 5, 2020, the agency published a first alert. At that time, it was called “pneumonia of unknown origin detected in China.”
A few weeks later, on January 30 The WHO declared the international alert and on February 11 named it ‘covid-19’. It was not until March 11 when it was officially declared a pandemic, a time when the successive confinements declared by several countries around the world also began, including Spain, which approved on March 14. the declaration of the State of Alarm to control the difficult emergency situation that the country was experiencing with a large number of cases that were constantly increasing.
Five years after all that, the WHO urges that those over 65 years of age and people who belong to other vulnerable groups get vaccinated periodically to avoid serious forms of the disease that could lead to hospitalizations. It should be noted that currently the vaccines are based on the JN.1 subvariant, the most widespread in the world and descended from the omicron variant.
Prevent the same story from happening
The WHO has also reiterated on several occasions that, although the situation now seems like a thing of the past and its spread is much more controlled than when it appeared, the truth is that covid-19 is still present and We must not forget a virus that affected almost the entire population of the planeteither for having suffered it, for having died from it, or for having family members who suffered from it.
To continue to be cautious in the face of similar future scenarios, the WHO is seeking promote a treaty against pandemics. It has been negotiating for three years and its objective is to prepare all countries for future pathogens with pandemic potential. These include new types of coronavirus, avian flu or another currently unknown trigger, a concept called ‘disease
Although this agreement to treat pandemics seemed like it was going to materialize last June, the plans failed and negotiations are still continuing. Thus, the reality is that they are hindered due to the lack of consensus between countries on aspects such as the marketing and distribution of vaccines, as well as treatments and diagnostic tests in the event of a pandemic.
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