Daily Management Review

WHO: new COVID-19 strains won't cause another pandemic


02/11/2021


Mutations of the coronavirus will not trigger a new pandemic, but vigilance must be maintained. This opinion was expressed by Hans Kluge, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais.



pixnio
pixnio
According to Kluge, the emergence of new mutations of the coronavirus is a stark reminder that the virus has gone nowhere. At the same time, he noted that mutations are the natural evolution of viruses that seek to adapt to their new host, humans. "This is not the beginning of a new pandemic, but of course we have to be very vigilant," Kluge stressed.

Head of the WHO's European office noted that mutations have the potential to cause reinfection in those who have already been infected with COVID-19. In addition, the more contagious varieties of the virus spread faster, so they put a lot of strain on health care systems. "Finally, they can affect the effectiveness of vaccines. Even the most common and familiar flu that we know of has mutations that require slightly different vaccines," Kluge said.

Earlier, the WHO reported that the strain of coronavirus found in the UK was detected last week in six more countries, bringing the total number to 86. In addition, the geographical spread of strains detected in South Africa, Brazil and Japan has expanded. 

South Africa's COVID-19 strain has been detected in 44 countries as of 8 February, adding three more during the past week. The Japanese strain spread to five new states within seven days, bringing the total to 15.

source: elpais.com