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Deaths Are Declining But The Pandemic Isn’t Over Yet, Experts Warn

The Good news: The Number of deaths worldwide is at it’s lowest point since the pandemic began.

[In my opinion: The Bad news: There appears to be increased transmissibility of the current variants and some experts are warning it’s not over]

Courtesy of Barrie 360 and The Canadian Press

While the head of the World Health Organization says the end of the COVID−19
pandemic is “in sight,” some Canadian experts warn it would be premature to
declare the global health crisis over. 

Their comments come after WHO Director−General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
announced Wednesday that the number of deaths attributed to COVID−19 worldwide
in the last week reached the lowest point since the pandemic’s onset.

He also urged governments to stay vigilant, so we don’t backslide at a
pivotal moment.

Dr. Fahad Razak, who headed up the recently disbanded group of scientists
advising Ontario’s government on COVID−19, says coronavirus variants have
traditionally cropped up during the fall and winter, leading to a surge in
cases and deaths.

He says it stands to reason that could happen again this year.

Razak says if we don’t see a new wave during the peak COVID season, then
experts may be more willing to declare the end of the pandemic in the spring.

But Colin Furness, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s
Dalla Lana school of public health, says the pandemic is still wreaking havoc,
leading to excess death and a labour shortage that’s further stunting the already strained health−care system.

 

Patricia Dent

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