WEB DESK: The UN health agency said holiday gatherings and the new variant boosted coronavirus cases worldwide, with nearly 10,000 deaths in December alone.
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that nearly 10,000 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in December.
The number of hospitalizations jumped 42 percent in nearly 50 countries during the month, mostly in Europe and the Americas, the UN-backed health agency said. There was also a 62 percent increase in intensive care unit admissions compared to November.
“While 10,000 deaths per month is far below the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
This comes as the new JN.1 variant has become the most reported variant of the coronavirus in the world.
Tedros added that he was “certain” that cases were on the rise in other countries as well, but had not been reported. He urged governments to continue surveillance and continuous access to treatment.
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“We continue to encourage individuals to get vaccinated, get tested, wear masks where needed and ensure good ventilation of crowded indoor spaces,” he said.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, the global health agency’s technical lead for COVID-19, cited an increase in respiratory illnesses worldwide due to the coronavirus, but also influenza, rhinovirus and pneumonia.
“We expect these trends to continue from January into the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere,” she said.
Dr. Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO, recommends that people get vaccinated when possible and wear masks.
“Vaccines may not prevent you from getting infected, but vaccines certainly significantly reduce your chance of being hospitalized or dying,” he said.
The WHO declared the end of COVID-19 as a pandemic in May 2023, more than three years after the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China.
