An official from the World Health Organization has confirmed that it is time for a realistic review of the COVID-19 pandemic, following the recording of one million deaths from the disease this year. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the COVID-19 technical team at WHO, stated that this toll is "heartbreaking," as tests, treatments, vaccines, and public health measures are all available to control the virus. She added, "As we enter the third year of the pandemic, it is even more tragic to have the tools that can actually prevent these deaths."
She stated, "Many of us have become numb to the numbers... We need a realistic review... We really need to assess where we are now... We should not be in a situation where between 14 to 15 thousand people are losing their lives every week," emphasizing that "the pandemic is not over yet, but it can be brought to an end while people continue to live their daily lives."
The WHO official continued to explain: "We just need to think a bit more about it, to be a little more careful... Many people talk about coexisting with COVID-19, but we have to coexist with it responsibly." She warned, "One million deaths this year is not coexisting with COVID-19, and having 15,000 deaths a week is not responsible coexistence with COVID."
According to the latest WHO statistics, COVID-19 has caused 6.45 million deaths worldwide since the first cases were reported at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China, while last week more than 5.3 million new infections were reported to the UN-affiliated organization. In this context, Maria Van Kerkhove stated, "These are huge numbers, and this is less than reality," considering that home testing is not included in the data, adding, "We see this virus spreading intensively around the world."
