Top World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Monday warned of “complacency” in the fight against COVID-19 amid a troubling spike in cases worldwide.
4.4 million new cases were registered in the past week, said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical leader for COVID-19, the seventh straight week with increasing cases. That’s compared to about 500,000 cases a week a year ago. The number of deaths has been on the rise for four weeks.
“It’s growing exponentially,” said Van Kerkhove of cases on a global basis.
“This is not the situation we want to have in 16 months from a pandemic in which we have proven control measures,” she added. “Now is the time for everyone to take stock and have a reality check on what to do.”
“We are in a CRITICAL POINT of the #COVID-19 pandemic now … A year ago we had reported about 500,000 cases a week, last week we had 4.4 million cases … This is NOT the situation we want in 16 months in the pandemic where we have proven control measures. “-@mvankerkhove pic.twitter.com/7bN7TQhs6A
– Sari Setiogi Griberg (@setiogi) April 12, 2021
While vaccinations are being rolled out and offer hope of getting the pandemic under control, many countries, especially lower-income countries, have only vaccinated a small fraction of their populations amid a battle for limited doses on a global scale.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries and individuals to take other precautions.
“Physical distance works,” he said. “Masks work. Hand hygiene works. Ventilation works. Surveillance, testing, contact tracking, isolation, supportive quarantine and compassionate care – they all work to stop infections and save lives.”
“But confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures and their application are the driving force behind the transmission and cost lives,” he added.
India and Brazil are of particular concern, given an increase in cases in India and a stark death toll in Brazil, with an outbreak fueled by a more contagious variant known as P.1.
Even amid more vaccinations than most other countries, the US has seen a plateau of very high-level cases, in excess of 60,000 per day, and troubling spikes in some places, especially Michigan.
“Vaccines and vaccinations are coming online, but they are not yet available in every part of the world where they need to be,” said Van Kerkhove.
The US is under pressure from some experts to do more to provide vaccines to low-income countries, as if the virus is circulating in large numbers everywhere, it offers opportunities for the development of new variants of the virus.
For example, the US could donate more doses into its stock of AstraZeneca vaccines, which have not yet been approved in the US but have been in other countries, and may never be needed in the US.
Tedros said he also met with African countries to try to increase vaccine production there.
“WHO doesn’t want endless lockdowns”, emphasized Tedros. “The countries that have done best have put in place a tailor-made, measured, flexible and evidence-based combination of measures.”