Update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic in France and around the world.
Drop in tests jeopardizes surveillance of virus, says WHO
The sudden drop in Covid-19 screening activities around the world is forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to fly “blindly” in the face of a virus that is still raging and continues to evolve, a-t she lamented on Tuesday. “In the face of a deadly virus, ignorance does not bring happiness,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, hijacking a common English expression (“Ignorance is bliss” – “Ignorance is bliss brings happiness”). “Globally, reported cases and deaths (…) continue to decline, which is very encouraging. Last week, just over 15,000 deaths were reported to WHO – the lowest weekly total since March 2020”, he noted during a press conference in Geneva.
He urged caution because in the absence of tests the WHO receives less information on transmission and sequencing. This situation “makes us increasingly blind to the patterns of transmission and evolution” of the virus, he said, calling on all countries to continue to monitor the disease. Attending the press conference, Bill Rodriguez, CEO of FIND (Global Alliance for Diagnostics), an organization that collaborates with the WHO, also denounced the decision taken by various governments around the world to “let their guard down ” in the face of the virus. “Over the past four months, right in the middle (of the Omicron variant), as East Asian cities go into lockdown and vaccination rates stagnate, testing rates have dropped by 70-90% in the whole world,” he said. And this despite the fact that screening capabilities have never been greater.
The Covid-19 pandemic would have caused more than 18 million deaths worldwide between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021, more than triple the official toll, according to a study published on March 11 in the medical journal The Lancet. And the pandemic continues to rage, according to the WHO. China has thus been facing an epidemic outbreak since March which has affected many provinces to varying degrees. “This virus won’t go away just because countries stop looking for it. It’s still spreading, it’s still changing, and it’s still killing,” Dr Tedros said. “The threat of a dangerous new variant remains very real, and although the number of deaths is decreasing, we still do not understand the long-term consequences of infection in survivors,” he said.
Finnish president hospitalized
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, 73, has been hospitalized with “prolonged symptoms of Covid-19”, his office said on Tuesday. The Head of State “feels reasonably well and continues to work remotely”, said his services. His illness was diagnosed on April 19, leading to the cancellation of a visit to Norway.
This hospitalization comes at a time when Finland, a Nordic country which shares a border of 1,300 kilometers with Russia, plans to submit its candidacy to NATO. In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow threatened to strengthen its military, including nuclear, assets in the Baltic region if Finland or Sweden joined the US-led military alliance. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said during a visit to Sweden in mid-April that the decision whether or not to submit a candidacy would be made “in a few weeks”. President Niinisto is due to travel to Sweden on May 18, where a candidacy for NATO is also being debated. Many analysts are counting on a candidacy from Finland, and perhaps from Sweden, quickly enough for the NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid.