London: The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the risk of COVID-19 has not gone away, saying that the coronavirus is still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the European region, reported AFP.
The global health body had announced on May 5 that the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer deemed to be a global health emergency.
“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, COVID-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.
The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.
“Close to 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting COVID-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added.
He advised authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70% for vulnerable groups.
Kluge observed that estimates showed one in 30, or around 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long COVID” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”
Hence, unless comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long COVID is developed, “we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge remarked.
WHO also urged vigilance against a resurgence of mpox, with 22 new cases being recorded across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.
