Highlighting the importance of:
➡️Knowledge of infection status
➡️Community engagement
➡️Adequate public health capacity
➡️Adequate health system capacity
➡️Border controls
Many use today as a day to mark significance in the @COVID19 pandemic.
I welcome any way in which we can raise attention to COVID-19, to remember our loved ones lost-and still losing- but also to ensure that we continue to act to tackle the current threat of COVID-19.
It was the day, 4 years ago, the Director-General of @WHO @DrTedros characterized #COVID19 as a pandemic. I remember that day vividly...because it was significant in the lives of everyone on the planet and in mine personally…
But let's accurately mark history here: it's not the day @WHO "declared" a pandemic.
For me, what is heartbreaking is that this day-arguably-marks when the world woke up to the threat of #COVID19, when that awakening should have been at least 6 weeks earlier when DG declared…
Sadly at the end of 2023, we passed the 7 million mark for the number of #COVID19 deaths reported to @WHO. 7,010,586 to be exact. The true death toll is higher, with estimates of at >3 times more deaths globally.
From Oct to Dec, #SARSCoV2 %+ from sentinel sites from @WHO expanded GISRS was 6-10% & from non-sentinel sites was 18% in Dec. Wastewater surveillance systems suggest actual cases are 2-19 times higher than what is reported to WHO.
Worryingly, #COVID19 hospitalisations & ICU admissions are up 42% & 62%, respectively…though data is only available from 29 & 21 countries (out of 234 countries/territories), respectively. We expect these trends to continue following the holidays, but we have limited visibility
We are entering the 5th year of the pandemic and we are certainly in a different phase. This phase is marked by an evolving virus (with the XBB and BA.2 sublineages circulating and JN.1 becoming dominant).
It’s marked by reduced impact compared to the peak of #COVID19 a few years ago, but it’s still a global health threat and it’s still a pandemic causing far too many (re)infections, hospitalisations, deaths and long covid when tools exist to prevent them.
It’s marked by co-circulation of many other pathogens eg flu, mycoplasma, RSV, etc.
Cases and hospitalisations for #COVID19 have been on the rise for months. Hospitals in many countries are burdened and overwhelmed from COVID and other pathogens, and deaths are on the rise.
Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.
JN.1 is a descendent lineage of BA.2.86, with the earliest sample collected on 25 August 2023. In comparison with BA.2.86, JN.1 has the additional L455S mutation in the spike protein.
As of 16 December 2023, 7344 JN.1 sequences had been submitted to @GISAID from 41 countries, representing 27.1% of the globally available sequences in epidemiological week 48 (27 Nov to 3 Dec 2023). See Table 1 in risk evaluation.
🧵Anyone who knows me knows that I despise the phrase “living with COVID”. We are living with #COVID19 & we must do it better. Governments must better manage COVID-19: prevent infections especially among those most at risk for severe disease & treat those infected & suffering…
Governments need to sustain critical actions to prevent infection (self test, ventilate, mask, etc), early detection w/ clinical care, vax/boosting those most at risk, sequencing to track variants and strong surveillance with continued reporting to @WHO
⬇️ who.int/emergencies/di…
It’s been just over a month since the lifting of the PHEIC for #COVID19 by @WHO@DrTedros.
While the world is moving on… and most people are able to live safely because they have some protection against developing severe disease and dying, they have good access to…
…health care, medicines and information, and they know how to keep themselves and loved ones safe from #COVID19… not all people around the world have this.
Governments can’t move on, must not forget. @WHO isn’t moving on…
…Our job is to inform all and support governments in maintaining the necessary life saving actions, to use our blood, sweat and tears that resulted in substantial gains in surveillance, clinical care, development and access to countermeasures, address underlying inequalities…