GENEVA – Naniniwala ang World Health Organization (WHO) na may pag-asa pa ring matalo ng buong mundo ang pandemic ng coronavirus disease sa gitna ng tumataas na bilang ng mga namamatay dito.
Sa huling tala kasi ng WHO, malapit nang pumalo sa 750,000 ang total deaths ng sakit mula nang pumutok ito noong December 2019 sa Wuhan City, China.
“This week we’ll reach 20 million registered cases of COVID-19 and 750,000 deaths,” ani WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Behind these statistics is a great deal of pain and suffering. Every life lost matters. I know many of you are grieving and that this is a difficult moment for the world. But I want to be clear: there are green shoots of hope and… it’s never too late to turn the outbreak around.”
Ayon kay Dr. Ghebreyesus, kahit inaasahan ang patuloy na pagtaas ng mga numero ay hindi pa huli para umaksyon laban sa pandemic.
Ilang bansa na raw kasi, tulad ng New Zealand at Rwanda ang matagumpay na nasugpo ang outbreak.
“My message is crystal clear: suppress, suppress, suppress the virus. If we suppress the virus effectively, we can safely open up societies.”
Sa kasalukuyan, 165 candidate vaccines ang sumasailalim sa iba’t-ibang level ng clinical trial sa buong mundo.
Pero ayon kay Michael Ryan, program director ng WHO health emergencies program, hindi kayang tuldukan ng bakuna ang COVID-19.
“We have perfectly effective polio and measles vaccines, and we still struggle to eradicate or eliminate those diseases.”
“Having an effective vaccine is only part of the answer. You’ve got to be able to deliver that vaccine to a population that want and demand to have that vaccine.”
Sinabi ni WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove, na hindi pa matukoy ng mga eksperto kung may immunity sa bagong coronavirus ang mga tao na una nang tinamaan ng kahit isa sa apat na globally-circulating common cold coronaviruses.(AFP)
