The head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program has warned countries not to lift Covid-19 restrictions too quickly.
Dr Mike Ryan said not enough people were vaccinated for any country to lift restrictions too soon.
Speaking during a Facebook question and answer session with epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Dr Ryan said he generally believed some countries had made a «premature rush to return to full normality».
«I think we’ll pay for that, because we’re not there in the vaccination, the variables are already there and we haven’t protected enough people,» he added.
With the number of cases in the European region reaching 500,000 cases per week and 1 million cases per week in all provinces of the Americas, the pandemic is far from over, Dr. Ryan said.
For much of the world, he said, «unfortunately, this thing is just getting started.»
He urged patience and said there was a possibility that it could end up with a «big problem» with the delta variable, which is more portable.
«We just need to be a little patient. Remember last summer when everything became good and then everyone relaxed kind of and then we arrived in September and October and we ended up in big trouble. I think that’s where we go again with a more portable variant. This time. And that’s the problem.»
yesterday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lifting of restrictions on England Even as cases rise, it is driven by the delta variable.
He confirmed that he intends to ease the measures on July 19, which will see the end of laws related to the wearing of masks and social distancing.
Britain’s health minister said the world can no longer think only of Covid-19 and ignore other critical health issues, economic problems and education challenges that have accumulated during the pandemic.
“We cannot live in a world where the only thing we think about is Covid – not about all the other health problems, our economic problems, our educational challenges, and we have to benefit from a vaccine that works happily,» Health Minister Sajid Javid told Sky News.
«When I come into this department with a fresh set of eyes – it’s shocking when you look at all the other health issues that have accumulated: around seven million people during the pandemic have not come forward to get help from the NHS with their health problems.»
Mr Johnson argued that the vaccination programme, which has weakened the link between infections and hospitalizations, could prevent the health service from being inundated with a new wave of Covid-19.
Britain has the world’s seventh-highest death toll from Covid-19, but uptake of vaccines in Britain has been strong, with 86% of adults receiving the first dose and 64% receiving two doses as of yesterday, according to government data. .
Public Health England figures indicate that vaccines are very effective in preventing the delta variant from causing severe illness or hospitalization, especially after two doses.
Mr Javid said the number of coronavirus cases could reach 100,000 per day in the summer as restrictions are eased.
«By the time we get to 19, we expect that by that time the case numbers will be at least twice what they are now, about 50,000 new cases a day,» he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“As we relax and summer enters, we expect their number to rise significantly and could reach 100,000 cases.
“We want to be very clear about this, about what we can expect in terms of the number of cases.
«But what matters more than anything is hospitalization and death numbers, and that’s where the link has been severely weakened,» he said.
The British government’s scientific advisor said this morning that «policy must remain flexible» after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
Professor Neil Ferguson said: “At the height of the second wave, 50,000 cases will translate to nearly 500 deaths, but that will be much less this time, more than 50 or so.
“The challenge is that there is still potential to get very large numbers of cases, so if we get very large numbers of cases per day, 150,000 or 200,000 can still put some strain on the health system.
“This is a small gamble, it is a slight experiment at the moment, which I think is justified and I am reasonably optimistic, but the policy must remain flexible.
«If we end up in something close to the worst-case scenario that we and other groups are looking forward to, which I think is unlikely but cannot be ruled out, then, yes, some trajectory direction will be needed later on.»
Additional reporting by Reuters, Pennsylvania
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