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Turn the page on COVID-19? Not so fast, say experts
But it's far too soon to declare victory, say experts, who warn that unequal vaccine access could still lead to the emergence of new and more deadly variants of the virus.
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A cemetery worker wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) stand next to a hearse carrying the coffin of Eliyantha White, a local shaman who claimed he had super natural powers to end the pandemic and died of the Covid-19 coronavirus, at the crematorium of the Colombo General Cemetery on September 23, 2021. (AFP/Ishara S. Kodikara)
W
ith global COVID-19 cases declining and pandemic fatigue on the rise, many countries are easing restrictions put in place to block the spread of the virus.
But it's far too soon to declare victory, say experts, who warn that unequal vaccine access could still lead to the emergence of new and more deadly variants of the virus.
Positive signs
On September 14 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced "the first substantial decline in weekly [COVID-19] cases in more than two months" after new infections during the week of September 6 totalled four million.
That number fell again the following week to 3.6 million as did the number of deaths, to "just under 60,000", the WHO said in its most recent update this week.
In Europe -- where a large percentage of adults are now vaccinated -- the pandemic seems to be waning after spikes of infections caused by the Delta variant.
"I believe that most of the world (including most of Europe and the Americas) is entering the final phase of the pandemic," Francois Balloux of the University College of London tweeted last week.
