THUNDER BAY – COVID-19 Update – As many countries are dropping COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, people are seeing it as a sign that the global pandemic is ending.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus the WHO Director-General says, “So when will it end? Is it ending now? That’s one of the major questions being asked.
“Indeed, high vaccine coverage in some countries, combined with the lower severity of Omicron, is driving a dangerous narrative that the pandemic is over.
- But it’s not – not when 70 thousand people a week are dying from a preventable and treatable disease;
- Not when 83% of the population of Africa is yet to receive a single dose of vaccine;
- Not when health systems continue to strain and crack under the caseload;
- Not when we have a highly transmissible virus circulating almost unchecked, with too little surveillance to track its evolution.
“In fact, the conditions are ideal for more transmissible, more dangerous variants to emerge”.
Ending protection measures “as if” a pandemic is over is like jumping out of a plane “as if” you have a parachute.
— Bob Rae (@BobRae48) February 21, 2022
International Overview
Social media live Q&A for the public on COVID-19
When: Tuesday, 22 February at 17.00 CET or 11:00 AM EST
Subject: Questions will be taken from the general public on COVID-19 variants of concern, including Omicron and its sub-lineage BA.2
With:
- Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead on COVID-19, Health Emergencies
- Dr Lorenzo Subissi, a virologist working on WHO’s COVID-19 response, including support to the WHO Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Viral Evolution (TAG-VE)
- Dr Anurag Agrawal, Chair of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Viral Evolution (TAG-VE)
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Asia
Hong Kong is bringing in compulsory testing for COVID-19 starting mid-March for the 7.4 million residents according to leader Carrie Lam.
University researchers are predicting new infections could peak at a staggering 180,000 a day next month.
Lam says, “Stringent coronavirus rules would be in place until mid-April with schools shut until August, as authorities battle to control an ‘exponential’ rise of infections which have overwhelmed healthcare facilities and resources.
Great Britain
Britain will end all remaining Covid restrictions.
The nation (not including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which make their own public health rules) will treat the coronavirus more like seasonal flu. Prime Minister Boris Johnson People who test positive will no longer be required to isolate starting Thursday.
We are heading into the most dangerous period of the pandemic, where everyone is exhausted and desensitised and governments are giving up on control measures.
— Dr David Berger, aBsuRdiSTe cROnickLeR (@YouAreLobbyLud) February 22, 2022
