Thread by @kakape

“Some countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas are seeing spikes in cases with multiple factors driving transmission risk”, says @drtedros at @WHO presser. “At present, there is immense pressure on hospitals and health workers."

@DrTedros @WHO “With almost 2 million deaths and new variants appearing in multiple countries, the emergency committee emphasized the need for governments to do all they can to curb infections through tried and tested public health measures”, says @DrTedros.

@DrTedros @WHO Push for equitable vaccine rollout needs to continue, says @drtedros
"I came into public health, because I wanted to ensure that everyone everywhere has access to quality health services.
I know what it's like to come from a continent where not all health services are available."

@DrTedros @WHO “#COVID19 vaccines are a major scientific breakthrough and I know through COVAX that we will distribute them a lot more effectively than in the past”, says @DrTedros.
"We're working hard, but we must also do more to ensure that vaccines reach those that need them most.”

@DrTedros @WHO "I think we are in a race between the virus, who is going to continue trying to mutate in order to spread more easily and humanity, which has to try to stop the [infection] spreading”, says Didier Houssin, who heads the emergency committee.

@DrTedros @WHO “We are a little bit paralyzed. We are a little bit confused. And clearly the question of travel around the world by air, by road, by sea, needs to be better … organized”, says Houssin. WHO needs to lead efforts to produce clear guidance on making travel safer, he says.

@DrTedros @WHO “This phenomenon of a rapid acceleration of cases is in the Americas, it is in Europe and is in some countries in Africa, and it is in some countries in every region”, says @DrMikeRyan. “A small proportion of that may be due to the emergence of variants that are fitter."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan But large part of resurgence is due to changes in behaviour, says @DrMikeRyan. "We're not breaking the chains of transmission. The virus is exploiting our lack of tactical commitment, our fatigue, the breaking down of our behaviors.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan "We need to be real with ourselves, we need to be honest: We're not doing as well as we could”, says @DrMikeRyan. “We know more than we've ever known before. We have more tools. We have to sustain the effort. It's tough. We've got to pick ourselves back up."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan "There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but that tunnel is a long tunnel right now and it's dark and it's dangerous and it's a challenging one that we have to get through", says @mvankerkhove. "But we have the tools to help us get through that" and more are coming.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "We're all in a challenging situation. We're tired or frustrated. We want this to be done”, says @mvankerkhove. “We have to be part of the collective action to prevent ourselves from getting infected and if we do get infected the virus stops with us."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Asked for an update on WHO origins team, @DrMikeRyan pushes back: “We can debate this every day: What do they do today, tomorrow or the next day? They have to have the space to to do the work... This can't be paced on a daily basis and litigated in press conferences"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "There has been a rapid rise of hospitalizations reported in Amazonas since the middle of December. Most of those cases are in Manaus", says @DrMikeRyan. “Clearly, if this continues, we're going to see a wave that is greater than what was a catastrophic wave in April and May"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Matter-of-fact recitation of the horror in Manaus from @DrMikeRyan:
“ICU occupancy right now in Manaus is 100% over the full last two weeks.
This is a health system under extreme pressure.”
More than 4000 new cases, 50 deaths a day.
"Over 400 people waiting to be hospitalized."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “New variants may have an impact down the line and they may be having some impact now”, says @drmikeryan.
“But again: It's too easy to just lay the blame on the variants and say it's the virus that did it.
Unfortunately it's also what we didn't do that did it."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Question about travel restrictions and recommendations on that. Houssin:
“With coronavirus things have changed and it's necessary to reconsider perhaps some of the orientations which were commonplace in the context of the IHR.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "We didn't go into the details of what should be done, but our recommendation to WHO was that it was really time to reassess what could could be recommended, what guidance could be provided with regard to air travel, sea travel, land border”, says Houssin.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Committee recommended not requiring vaccination proof for travel, @DrMikeRyan points out, “not because that won't be a good idea in future, but because we are lacking critical evidence regarding whether or not persons who are vaccinated could continue to ... transmit disease"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "There needs to be a system in place to understand what each of these mutations mean what these variants mean and how it impacts the behavior of the virus”, says @mvankerkhove.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “This virus is dangerous on its own, variant or not”, says @mvankerkhove. "And even if it can provide increased transmissibility - and some of them do - we still have tools that could break chains of transmission."