Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, September 29 (Reporter Liu Qu) Statistics from the World Health Organization on the 29th showed that the cumulative number of deaths from the new crown worldwide has exceeded 1 million, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases is nearly 33.25 million.
In the past week, there were more than 2 million new confirmed cases worldwide, and more than 36,400 new deaths. More than half of the two new cases came from countries in the Americas in the six regions of the world divided by WHO.
WHO experts said that the current statistics still underestimate the severity of the epidemic. Before the new crown vaccine is officially available, attention should be paid to using existing means and methods to save lives and prevent spread.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the same day that 1 million people died of the new crown "is a difficult time for the world, but there is still a glimmer of hope that inspires us now and in the near future."
He called on all countries, communities and individuals to focus on four basic measures to control the epidemic.
First, avoid activities that cause the spread of the epidemic; second, reduce deaths by protecting high-risk groups such as the elderly, patients with underlying diseases, and practitioners in key industries; third, individuals must take known effective measures to protect themselves and others, including Keep at least one metre away from others, wash your hands frequently, wear masks, avoid crowded places, close contact, etc.; Fourth, governments must take targeted actions to find, isolate, test and care for patients, and track and isolate them Contacts.
Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Emergency Projects, recently stated that before a safe and effective new crown vaccine is officially available, the number of deaths worldwide will exceed 2 million. “Of course it is unimaginable, but it is not impossible. Because the reality is that the past 9 months have passed. One million people have lost their lives and getting the vaccine within the next 9 months is a difficult task for everyone."
Ruian emphasized that although 1 million is a terrible number, we can do a lot in terms of epidemic control, existing rescue measures, and anti-epidemic innovations.
For example, the use of oxygen infusion, intensive care and other treatments and dexamethasone and other therapies have done better than before, so the clinical mortality rate is slowly decreasing.
He called on all parties to increase their support for the WHO-led "Access to Accelerator Tools for Combating New Coronary Pneumonia" international cooperation initiative, and take multilateral actions and global collective actions to control the virus.
Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the WHO Director-General, said: “Whether another 1 million people die from the new crown does not depend on whether we have a vaccine, but on whether we use existing tools, methods and knowledge to save lives. And prevent spread."
He said: "We should not wait. We have made incredible progress in reducing the COVID-19 mortality rate and in preventing the most vulnerable and most at-risk population from contracting COVID-19."
According to WHO statistics, as of September 28, there have been 40 new crown vaccine candidates that have been reported to WHO and are in clinical trials, and 10 of them have entered phase 3 clinical trials.
The WHO recently stated that the COVAX global COVID-19 vaccine program co-led by the organization and its partners will begin to sign formal agreements with vaccine manufacturers and developers to ensure that at least 2 billion doses of safe and effective COVID-19 will be provided globally by the end of 2021. vaccine.
No matter which vaccine is proven to be safe and effective in the future, participating countries will be able to obtain the vaccine in time, whether it is a low-income country or a high-income country.
Mary Angela Simão, Assistant Director-General of WHO, said that although there are many vaccine candidates, WHO, partners, manufacturers, etc. will never make any compromises on safety and effectiveness in order to launch the vaccine as soon as possible. All clinical trials must be completed and met before the vaccine will be considered for marketing. Therefore, ordinary people do not need to worry about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines due to accelerated research and development.