COVID pandemic is ‘nowhere near over’: WHO chief

The coronavirus pandemic is “nowhere near over”, the World Health Organization’s chief has warned, citing new waves around the world and voicing concern the virus is “running freely”.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was worried that case numbers were continuing to rise and “putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers”.

“As the virus pushes at us, we must push back. We’re in a much better position than at the beginning of the pandemic,” he told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

“Of course, there’s been a lot of progress. We have safe and effective tools that prevent infections, hospitalisations and deaths. However, we should not take them for granted.”