Coronavirus: ‘Blood on your hands’ if world steps back on tackling Covid now, WHO warns
- Richer nations must tackle Covid-19 as a global problem now, ahead of future potential waves of infection, a WHO senior adviser warned
- The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 has increased in England and Wales for the first time in two months
If rich nations think the pandemic is over, they should help lower-income countries reach that point too, a senior World Health Organization official said.
In an interview, WHO senior adviser Bruce Aylward warned that richer nations must not step back from tackling Covid-19 as a global problem now, ahead of future potential waves of infection.
In the last few weeks, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the end of the pandemic was in sight, and US President Joe Biden said the pandemic was over.
“When I hear them say, ‘Well, we’re so comfortable here,’ it’s like, ‘Great, now you can really help us get the rest of the world done’,” said Aylward.
Aylward said that the group he coordinates, which focuses on equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and tests worldwide, is not yet ready to move out of the emergency phase of tackling the pandemic and that countries need to be ready and have treatments in place for any further waves of infection.
“If you go to sleep right now and this wave hits us in three months … God – blood on your hands,” he said.