WHO "Difficult to End COVID-19 This Year"

"Must Be Lucky Next Year to Maintain Control"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that ending COVID-19 this year will be difficult. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO Emergency Response Team, stated on the 19th (local time) that "controlling COVID-19 will only be possible next year if we are very lucky."

The reason behind WHO's outlook is its assessment that new variants of concern will emerge next year as well. WHO designates variants that cause serious community transmission in several countries as variants of interest. Variants of concern, a level above that, have much higher transmissibility, fatality rates, and vaccine resistance compared to existing viruses. The Delta variant was designated as a variant of interest in April and was upgraded to a variant of concern within a month.

Ryan said, "The Delta variant will not be the last variant of concern." In other words, new variant viruses that will plunge the world into fear again, like the India-origin Delta, UK-origin Alpha, South Africa-origin Beta, and Brazil-origin Gamma variants, are expected to emerge.

Currently, the Lambda variant originating from Peru is widely expected to become the fifth variant of concern. First discovered in December last year, the Lambda variant is rapidly spreading in South America. Over the past two months, more than 8 out of 10 new cases in Peru have been infected with the Lambda variant. In Argentina and Chile, it accounts for one in three cases. So far, it has been identified in about 30 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Brazil, but has not yet been detected domestically.

Due to the spread of the Delta variant, confirmed cases are sharply increasing worldwide. Ryan stated, "In the past week, global cumulative confirmed cases increased by 11.5%, and cumulative deaths increased by 1%." In particular, the Western Pacific region saw a 30% increase, Europe 21%, Southeast Asia 16.5%, and the Eastern Mediterranean 15%, showing a clear spread.

Deaths caused by COVID-19 have also increased in four of the six WHO regions over the past week. Southeast Asia leads with a 12% increase, followed by the Western Pacific at 10%, and the Eastern Mediterranean at 4%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.