The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu says his organization remains positive that the COVID-19 pandemic will be defeated in 2022 after countries are working together to curb its spread.
According to Ghebreyesu, there are now many ways how to handle and deal with the virus, however, inequity in vaccine distribution is increasing the risk of the virus spreading.
Ghebreyesu said, vaccine hoarding by several countries have undermined equity and created the ideal conditions for the arrival of the Omicron variant, BBC reported.
Also read: New COVID-19 cases slowing down in the Western Cape, says Winde
Ghebreyesu’s statement come exactly two years since the WHO was first notified of cases of the virus in China. The global COVID cases are now at 287m, while nearly 5.5m people have died.
Meanwhile, South Africa has recorded 18 818 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 3 468 079. According to National Institute for Communicable Diseases, a further 126 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 91 198 to date.
As of today the cumulative number of #COVID19 cases identified in SA is 3 468 079 with 9 818 new cases reported. Today 53 deaths have been reported bringing the total to 91 198 deaths. The cumulative number of recoveries now stand at 3 182 969 with a recovery rate of 91,8% pic.twitter.com/y6p9cT9oZs
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) January 1, 2022
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