WHO warns of more ‘dangerous Covid variants’ in coming days Get vaccinated call sounded

NEW DELHI, Sep 2
Even as Covid infection and death related to it continues to fall, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the possibility of the emergence of deadlier and more infectious coronavirus variant remains and urged all to continue to practice caution.
"Subvariants of Omicron are more transmissible than their predecessors, & the risk of even more transmissible & more dangerous variants remains. Meanwhile, vaccination coverage among the most at-risk people remains too low, especially in low-income countries" said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the weekly media briefing regarding Covid on Wednesday.
He further alerted that the cases are likely to rise again in the coming months. “We are now seeing a welcome decline in reported Covid deaths globally. However, with colder weather approaching in the northern hemisphere, it’s reasonable to expect an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in the coming months."
Living with Covid
WHO had earlier pointed out that in the coming years, we would have to live with Covid. And explaining what it is, he said, "Living with COVID-19 doesn’t mean pretending the pandemic is over. If you go walking in the rain without an umbrella, pretending it’s not raining won’t help you. You’ll still get wet. Likewise, pretending a deadly virus is not circulating is a huge risk."
“Living with COVID-19 means taking the simple precautions to avoid getting infected, or if you're infected, from getting seriously sick/dying. I'm asking all Governments to update their policies to make best use of the life-saving tools to manage COVID-19 responsibly," the WHO chief pointed out.
On Covid vaccination
Regarding Covid vaccination, Tedros said, the rates, even in rich countries, were still too low, noting that 30% of health workers and 20% of older people remain unimmunized.
“These vaccination gaps pose a risk to all of us," he said. “Please get vaccinated if you are not and a booster if it’s recommended that you have one." WHO said there were 4.5 million new COVID-19 cases reported last week, a 16% drop from the previous week. Deaths were also down by 13%, with about 13,500 fatalities. WHO said COVID-19 infections dropped everywhere in the world while deaths decreased everywhere except for Southeast Asia, where they climbed by 15% and in the Western Pacific, where they rose by 3%. Mint