The Delta COVID-19 variant has currently been detected in 104 countries and is expected to soon be the dominant strain globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom.
Tedros made the remark at a COVID-19 media briefing on Monday, where he warned of the impact of the Delta variant.
“The Delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death,’ he said, noting that last week marked the fourth consecutive week of increasing cases of COVID-19 globally, with increases recorded in all but one of WHO’s six regions.
“In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta is spreading quickly; especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems,” said Tedros.
“In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad. Delta and other highly transmissible variants are driving catastrophic waves of case, which are translating into high numbers of hospitalisations and death.”
The WHO chief urged countries lifting public health and social measures to ensure they consider the impact on health workers and health systems.
He also called for unity in the fight against the pandemic, discouraging high-income countries against seeking to rollout third jabs of the vaccines while other nations struggle to inoculate their high-risk populations.
Some countries have already proposed a third vaccine jab – called booster shots – to increase protection for at-risk people who already had the vaccine.
“Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses, before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable,” said Tedros.
“I ask you, who would put fire fighters on the frontline without protection? Who are the most vulnerable to the flames of this pandemic? The health workers on the frontlines, older persons and the vulnerable.”
By Monday, the number of COVID-19 infections globally had surpassed 186.96 million with deaths exceeding 4.03 million, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
"Delta is now in more than 104 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant #COVID19 strain circulating worldwide. The world is watching in real time as the COVID-19 virus continues to change and become more transmissible"-@DrTedros
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 12, 2021
