The Covid-19 epidemic is accelerating. At a press conference on July 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the epidemic had reached 400,000 new cases over the past weekend, while stressing that the peak is not has not yet been reached.

"While the number of deaths appears to have stabilized globally, in reality, some countries have made significant progress in reducing the number of deaths, while in other countries, deaths are still increasing", said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, recalling that 11.4 million cases have been reported worldwide, and that the virus had killed more than 535,000 people in six months.

"We are all vulnerable," he said, saying the virus had "taken humanity hostage." "We have not seen anything like it since 1918," he said, referring to the Spanish flu pandemic that claimed tens of millions of lives worldwide. "National unity and global solidarity are crucial and without them we will not be able to beat the virus," he said.

Covid-19 aerial transmission potential

In addition, the organization is concerned about the evidence that is beginning to emerge concerning a possible transmission of the virus by the air, whereas a group of international scientists sounded the alarm on this mode of contagion. "We recognize that evidence is emerging in this area and therefore we must be open to this possibility, and understand its implications," said Benedetta Allegranzi, a WHO official.

"The possibility of transmission by air in particularly crowded public places cannot be excluded. The evidence must, however, be gathered and interpreted," said Allegranzi, recommending "effective ventilation in closed places, physical distance ". "When this is not possible, we recommend wearing a mask," she added.

More than 200 international scientists on Monday urged the WHO and the international medical community to "recognize the potential of aerial transmission of Covid-19", in an article published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in Oxford. The WHO, already criticized for having delayed recommending the masks, has been accused of refusing to see the accumulation of evidence of airborne spread of the virus. WHO is expected to publish an information sheet on this subject "in the coming days".

With AFP 

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