The pandemic of coronavirus could enter a new phase in the European region with “plausible hope” of stabilization, although it is necessary to remain vigilant, the World Health Organization warned on Monday (who).
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“The pandemic is far from over, but I hope that we can end the emergency phase in 2022 and face other health threats that urgently require our attention,” said the director of the regional office for Europe of the WHO, Hans Kluge.
The current phase is marked by the “sweep” of the variant omicron in the region -which includes 53 countries, including several in Central Asia-, which already accounts for 31.8% of new cases, 15% more than the previous week.
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“While omicron seems to cause less severe disease than delta, we continue to see a rapid increase in hospitalizations due to the high number of infections, to which must be added the burden caused by delta and the high number of secondary admissions,” the statement states.
The WHO highlights that hospitalizations for omicron they require admission to intensive care much less frequently, where the majority of patients are unvaccinated.
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“This pandemic, like all previous ones, will end, but it’s too soon to relax. With millions of infections worldwide in recent weeks and to come, waning immunity, and seasonality, it’s almost a no-brainer that new strains of disease will emerge and return.” covid-19″, admits the WHO.
But Kluge does not believe that there will be more widespread confinements thanks to the control system, high vaccination and measures such as ventilation, access to antivirals, tests and the protection of risk groups with high-quality masks and physical distance.
According to data from the 20th, the European region has registered 123 million cases in two years, the equivalent of the combined population of France and Italy and a third of the total global infections. The number of deaths with covid-19 amounts to 1,734,427, which means 2,369 a day or almost a hundred an hour.
65% of the total population in the region has received at least one dose of the vaccine, which according to data from the who has saved the lives of almost 470,000 people over the age of 60 in 33 countries between December 2020 and November 2021.
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The WHO, however, recalled the “enormous inequalities” in access to vaccines, which help drive transmission, prolong the pandemic and increase the possibility of new variants.
The pandemic it has also caused more than 4 million people to fall below the poverty line with daily incomes of less than 5.50 dollars (4.85 euros) a day; and has affected children’s education and general mental health.
EFE
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