Global health risk from COVID-19 remains high, says top WHO official

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The global public health risks from COVID-19 remain high, but it is not apparent, while deaths have dropped dramatically since two years ago, a leading WHO expert on pandemic preparedness said Friday.

"The public risks from COVID remain high. And this is globally. We have a pathogen circulating in all countries," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who is heading the WHO's epidemic and pandemic prevention section at the UN press conference.

She said, "Case-based data reported to WHO is not a reliable indicator, and it has not been a reliable indicator for a couple of years now."

Some data from several countries might indicate that the virus has gone. It has not, however.

WHO data shows that the number of cases reported worldwide in the last 28 days is ‎286,562, while the number of worldwide deaths over just over two years is more than seven million.

Van Kerkhove said that the actual circulation of the disease is between two and 19 times higher than what is being reported.

"So, the virus is circulating. And what's difficult right now is that the virus continues to evolve," said the WHO doctor, two years after the disease came to the fore. "We have a virus that will continue to change as we let it circulate rapidly".

However, the number of deaths has reduced drastically since its peak a couple of years ago, but there are still around 10,000 deaths a month.

"And that's only data from 50 countries. Among those 10,000 deaths reported in December, more than half are reported from the United States of America, and 1,000 from Italy."

Van Kerkhove said that the WHO is missing deaths in countries from around the world because countries are not reporting them.

"But that does not mean that patients are not dying.

"We have had a 42% and a 62% increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions, respectively, when we look at the data from December compared to November," said Van Kerkhove, noting this excludes any data from January.

"And with the holiday season with the gatherings around the New Year, we expect those numbers to continue to increase."