Three years following the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic and as COVID-19 infections increase in China, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) took stock of the past year and discussed the outlook for 2023.
The pandemic resumes in China and worries
The WHO says it is very concerned regarding developments in China, where there are increasing reports of serious illness.
The WHO strongly criticized the data provided by China on January 4. ” We think that current figures released by China underrepresent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, intensive care admissions and especially in terms of deaths,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s head of health emergency management, at a press conference.
European states are “encouraged” to complete the negative test required on boarding in China with “random tests” on arrival on European soil, with “sequencing of positive results” in order to identify possible new variants.
Drop in cases in France
In France, more than 60% of the population has a complete vaccination schedule. The trend is clearing, new confirmed cases and deaths caused by COVID-19 are decreasing. Also, since March 2022, the Omicron variant represents 100% of new infections in France.
Despite great disparities in the vaccination of European populations, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control considers that the countries of the European Union have a high immunization rate. The rate of new infections and deaths over the past fortnight is generally down, with a few rare exceptions.
A look back at 2022
The year 2022 was marked by the emergence ofOmicron and its spread as the dominant variant worldwide.
About 360 million cases were reported to WHO in 2022, more than half of the COVID-19 cases reported since the start of the pandemic, more than in the previous two years combined. The number of positive tests almost tripled in 2022. It rose to 20% compared to 7% during the first two years of the pandemic.
In 2022, approximately 1.2 million people are believed to have died from COVID-19, or 1 in 5 deaths.
The number of deaths is down overall, with between 8,000 and 10,000 deaths per week reported.
The number of vaccine doses given has halved between 2021 and 2022, with just over 4 billion doses given out.
He still exists huge disparities in vaccination. In low-income countries, only one in five people have been vaccinated.
Access to life-saving diagnostics and treatment for COVID-19, remains, says WHO “unacceptably unaffordable and unequal”.
We need to better understand long-term COVID, invest and plan the response to this long-lasting condition, which WHO says still raises many questions.
Towards the end of the “global emergency”
In view of current trends, WHO remains hopeful that by the end of 2023, the COVID-19 emergency can be ended everywhere in the world.
More needs to be done, notes the WHO, to advancing science and strengthening prevention.
WHO and partners also remain concerned that they do not have adequate data to quickly and reliably assess COVID 19 variants.They are also concerned regarding the monitoring of potential transmissions homme-animal which is limited. Some scientists fear that the next major variant may come from these contacts.
