COVID deaths down 95 percent this year: WHO

Agence France-Presse

<div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='A demolition team dismantles the structure of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital at the Quirino Grandstand on January 4, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/13/20230104-manila-covid19-hospital-demolition-gc-0418.jpg' ><figcaption>A demolition team dismantles the structure of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital at the Quirino Grandstand on January 4, 2022. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Wednesday that Covid-19 deaths had dropped by 95 percent since the start of the year -- but warned the virus was still on the move.</p><p>WHO said Covid-19 was here to stay and countries would have to learn how to manage its ongoing non-emergency effects, including post-Covid-19 condition, or Long Covid.</p><p>"We're very encouraged by the sustained decline in reported deaths from Covid-19, which have dropped 95 percent since the beginning of this year," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.</p><p>"However, some countries are seeing increases, and over the past four weeks, 14,000 people lost their lives to this disease.</p><p>"And, as the emergence of the new XBB.1.16 variant illustrates, the virus is still changing, and is still capable of causing new waves of disease and death."</p><p>Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said XBB sub-lineages were now dominant worldwide.</p><p>They have an increase in growth advantage and are also showing immune escape, meaning people can be reinfected despite having been vaccinated or previously infected.</p><p>She called for increased surveillance through testing "so that we can monitor the virus itself and understand what each of these mutations means".</p><p>That knowledge could feed into vaccine composition and inform decisions on handling the virus, she said.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/04/24/23/ph-sees-32-pct-increase-in-daily-average-of-covid-cases'>PH sees 32 pct increase in daily average of COVID-19 cases</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/25/23/new-covid-19-variant-arcturus-detected-in-philippines'>Philippines detects first case of omicron subvariant XBB.1.16</a></li></ul><p>Tedros reiterated that the WHO remained hopeful of declaring an end to Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, with the committee that advises him on the status due to convene next month for its regular quarterly meeting.</p><p>"But this virus is here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other infectious diseases," he added.</p><p>Tedros meanwhile said that an estimated one in 10 infections resulted in Long Covid, suggesting that hundreds of millions of people would need longer-term care.</p><p>The WHO chief also noted how the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted vaccination programs, with an estimated 67 million children missing out on at least one essential jab between 2019 and 2021.</p><p>Following a decade of stalled progress, vaccination rates are back to where they were in 2008, he said, leading to rising outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever.</p><p>All countries must address "the barriers to immunization, whether it's access, availability, cost or disinformation", he said.</p><p><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></p><figure class='op-interactive'><iframe allow='autoplay; fullscreen' frameborder='0' height='100%' id='ivsplayer01' scrolling='no' src='https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&spid=3001339&vid=2594158' width='100%'></iframe></figure><div class='iwantbar'>Watch more News on <a href='https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news' target='_blank'>iWantTFC</a></div><div class='iwantbar'> </div>

<p>"However, some countries are seeing increases, and over the past four weeks, 14,000 people lost their lives to this disease.</p><p>"And, as the emergence of the new XBB.1.16 variant illustrates, the virus is still changing, and is still capable of causing new waves of disease and death."</p><p>Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said XBB sub-lineages were now dominant worldwide.</p><p>They have an increase in growth advantage and are also showing immune escape, meaning people can be reinfected despite having been vaccinated or previously infected.</p><p>She called for increased surveillance through testing "so that we can monitor the virus itself and understand what each of these mutations means".</p><p>That knowledge could feed into vaccine composition and inform decisions on handling the virus, she said.</p><ul class='op-related-articles'>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/04/24/23/ph-sees-32-pct-increase-in-daily-average-of-covid-cases'>PH sees 32 pct increase in daily average of COVID-19 cases</a></li>	<li><a href='https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/25/23/new-covid-19-variant-arcturus-detected-in-philippines'>Philippines detects first case of omicron subvariant XBB.1.16</a></li></ul><p>Tedros reiterated that the WHO remained hopeful of declaring an end to Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, with the committee that advises him on the status due to convene next month for its regular quarterly meeting.</p><p>"But this virus is here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other infectious diseases," he added.</p><p>Tedros meanwhile said that an estimated one in 10 infections resulted in Long Covid, suggesting that hundreds of millions of people would need longer-term care.</p><p>The WHO chief also noted how the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted vaccination programs, with an estimated 67 million children missing out on at least one essential jab between 2019 and 2021.</p><p>Following a decade of stalled progress, vaccination rates are back to where they were in 2008, he said, leading to rising outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever.</p><p>All countries must address "the barriers to immunization, whether it's access, availability, cost or disinformation", he said.</p><p><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></p><figure class='op-interactive'><iframe allow='autoplay; fullscreen' frameborder='0' height='100%' id='ivsplayer01' scrolling='no' src='https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&spid=3001339&vid=2594158' width='100%'></iframe></figure><div class='iwantbar'>Watch more News on <a href='https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news' target='_blank'>iWantTFC</a></div><div class='iwantbar'> </div>

<p>WHO said Covid-19 was here to stay and countries would have to learn how to manage its ongoing non-emergency effects, including post-Covid-19 condition, or Long Covid.</p><p>"We're very encouraged by the sustained decline in reported deaths from Covid-19, which have dropped 95 percent since the beginning of this year," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.</p>

<div class='embed-wrap'><figure data-feedback='fb:likes,fb:comments'><img alt='A demolition team dismantles the structure of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital at the Quirino Grandstand on January 4, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News' src='https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/01/13/20230104-manila-covid19-hospital-demolition-gc-0418.jpg' ><figcaption>A demolition team dismantles the structure of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital at the Quirino Grandstand on January 4, 2022. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Wednesday that Covid-19 deaths had dropped by 95 percent since the start of the year -- but warned the virus was still on the move.</p>

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said XBB sub-lineages were now dominant worldwide.

COVID deaths down 95 percent this year: WHO | ABS-CBN News

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COVID deaths down 95 percent this year: WHO

COVID deaths down 95 percent this year: WHO