WHO warns COVID-19 pandemic still volatile

A health worker performs a coronavirus test at a shopping road in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 21, 2021.(AP/File)
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Updated 19 April 2023
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WHO warns COVID-19 pandemic still volatile

  • In the last 28 days, more than 23,000 deaths and three million new cases have been reported to the WHO
  • While the numbers are decreasing, “that’s still a lot of people dying and that’s still a lot of people getting sick,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said

GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the COVID-19 pandemic was still volatile, saying there could be further trouble before the virus settles into a predictable pattern.

In the last 28 days, more than 23,000 deaths and three million new cases have been reported to the WHO, in the context of much-reduced testing.

While the numbers are decreasing, “that’s still a lot of people dying and that’s still a lot of people getting sick,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference.

He said respiratory viruses do not pass from a pandemic to an endemic phase, but instead move to low levels of activity with potentially seasonal epidemic peaks.

“We don’t turn off a pandemic switch,” said Ryan.

“It’s much more likely that we’re going to see... a bumpy road to a more predictable pattern.”

The WHO’s emergency committee on COVID-19 meets every three months and is due to assemble in early May.

As at its previous meetings, it will decide whether the virus still constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — the highest level of alert that the UN health agency can sound.

The WHO declared COVID-19 a PHEIC on January 30, 2020, when there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside China.

But it was not until WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as a pandemic in March 2020 that the world jolted into action.

Ryan said the virus would not be eliminated and would, like influenza, still cause significant respiratory disease in vulnerable people.

Some countries still have large populations of highly vulnerable people who are unvaccinated, he said, while in others COVID is no longer an emergency event.

The COVID-19 committee presents its advice to Tedros — who has the final say — on whether the virus still constitutes a PHEIC.

“I would hope that as the emergency committee meets in May, they will have further positive advice to give Dr. Tedros around their assessment of the trajectory of the pandemic and the existence or not of a PHEIC,” said Ryan.


Palestinian health ministry says 4 killed in Israeli West Bank strike

Updated 52 min 57 sec ago
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Palestinian health ministry says 4 killed in Israeli West Bank strike

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said Thursday that an Israeli air strike on a car killed four Palestinians and wounded three near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.
The ministry announced that the Palestinians were killed “as a result of the (Israeli) bombing of a vehicle in Tulkarem camp,” which the Israeli army did not immediately confirm to AFP.


Turkiye, Iran leaders at Muslim summit in Cairo

Updated 19 December 2024
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Turkiye, Iran leaders at Muslim summit in Cairo

  • Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, but diplomatic contacts have intensified since Cairo became a mediator in the war in Gaza

CAIRO: The leaders of Turkiye and Iran were in Egypt on Thursday for a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, meeting for the first time since the ouster of Syria’s president Bashar Assad.
Turkiye historically backed the opposition to Assad, while Iran supported his rule.
The gathering of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as the Developing-8, was being held against a backdrop of regional turmoil including the conflict in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon and unrest in Syria.
In a speech to the summit, Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for unity and reconciliation in Syria, urging “the restoration of Syria’s territorial integrity and unity.”
He also voiced hope for “the establishment of a Syria free of terrorism,” where “all religious sects and ethnic groups live side by side in peace.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged action to address the crises in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, saying that it is a “religious, legal and human duty to prevent further harm” to those suffering in these conflict zones.
Pezeshkian, who arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, is the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who visited in 2013.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, but diplomatic contacts have intensified since Cairo became a mediator in the war in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi visited Egypt in October, while his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty traveled to Tehran in July to attend Pezeshkian’s inauguration.
Ahead of the summit, the Iranian top diplomat said he hoped it would “send a strong message to the world that the Israeli aggressions and violations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria” would end “immediately.”
Erdogan was in Egypt earlier this year, and discussed with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi economic cooperation as well as regional conflicts.
Established in 1997, the D-8 aims to foster cooperation among member states, spanning regions from Southeast Asia to Africa.
The organization includes Egypt, Turkiye, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia as member states.


Iraq begins repatriating Syrian soldiers amid border security assurances

Updated 19 December 2024
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Iraq begins repatriating Syrian soldiers amid border security assurances

DUBAI: Iraq has begun the process of returning Syrian soldiers to their home country, according to state media reports on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of joint operations, emphasized the robust security measures in place along Iraq’s borders with Syria.

“Our borders are fortified and completely secure,” he said, declaring that no unauthorized crossings would be permitted.

Muhammadawi said that all border crossings with Syria are under tight control, stating: “We will not allow a terrorist to enter our territory.”


Turkiye won’t halt Syria military activity until Kurd fighters ‘disarm’

Updated 19 December 2024
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Turkiye won’t halt Syria military activity until Kurd fighters ‘disarm’

ISTANBUL: Turkiye will push ahead with its military preparations until Kurdish fighters “disarm,” a defense ministry source said Thursday as the nation faces an ongoing threat along its border with northern Syria.
“Until the PKK/YPG terrorist organization disarms and its foreign fighters leave Syria, our preparations and measures will continue within the scope of the fight against terrorism,” the source said.


Hamas says Israeli strikes in Yemen ‘dangerous development’

Updated 19 December 2024
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Hamas says Israeli strikes in Yemen ‘dangerous development’

GAZA: Palestinian militant group Hamas said Thursday that Israel’s strikes in Yemen after the Houthi rebels fired a missile at the country were a “dangerous development.”
“We regard this escalation as a dangerous development and an extension of the aggression against our Palestinian people, Syria and the Arab region,” Hamas said in a statement as Israel struck ports and energy infrastructure in Yemen after intercepting a missile attack by the Houthis.