The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 is declining, following the spike in China after it lifted restrictions.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, at the 15th meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, said it was very pleasing to see that the downward trend had continued.

“For each of the past 10 weeks, the number of weekly reported deaths has been the lowest since March 2020. This sustained trend has allowed life to return to ‘normal’ in most countries and has increased the capacity of health systems to cope with potential resurgences and the burden of post-COVID-19 conditions,” Mr Ghebreyesus said.

According to him, at the same time, some critical uncertainties about the virus’s evolution persist, making it difficult to predict future transmission dynamics or seasonality.

He said surveillance and genetic sequencing had declined significantly worldwide, making tracking known variants and detecting new ones more difficult.

WHO boss said inequalities in access to life-saving interventions also continue to put millions worldwide at unnecessary risk, particularly the most vulnerable.

“Also, pandemic fatigue threatens us all. We are all sick and tired of this pandemic and want to put it behind us,” said Mr Ghebreyesus.

The WHO boss explained that the virus was here to stay, and all countries would need to learn to manage it alongside other infectious diseases.

“On May 3, WHO published the fourth COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which outlines critical actions across all the core components of the response collaborative surveillance,” Mr Ghebreyesus added. “Others are community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.”

(NAN)