GENEVA, Switzerland – The World Health Organization’s COVID leader said Friday it’s time to take inventory of the virus after the one millionth death from the disease this year.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who’s technical officer for COVID-19, said the death toll was “heartbreaking” because tests, treatments, vaccines and public fitness measures for the disease were available.
“Given that we are in the third year of the pandemic, this is. . . even more tragic because we have the team that can really save you from those deaths,” he said in a live interaction on WHO social media.
“Many of us are insensitive to numbers.
“We want a confrontation with reality. We want to take inventory of where we are. We deserve not to be on a stage where 14,000 or 15,000 people die every week. We deserve not to. “
Van Kerkhove insisted that the pandemic is not over, but it can be stopped while other people continue to live their daily lives.
“We just want to think about it a little bit more, be a little more careful,” he said.
“A lot of other people talk about living with COVID. But we have to live with that responsibly.
“One million deaths this year are living with COVID. Having 15,000 deaths per week is about living with COVID-19 responsibly.
Nearly 6. 45 million deaths have been reported to WHO since the virus was first detected in China in late 2019.
More than 5. 3 million new ones were reported to the UN fitness firm last week.
“These are massive numbers, and it’s an underestimate,” Van Kerkhove said, and home testing is not reflected in surveillance data.
“We see this virus circulating very intensely around the world.
“The virus is leaving, unfortunately. “
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