Ghebreyesus made evaluations at the weekly press conference at the WHO headquarters. Reminding that 3 years have passed since the declaration of Kovid-19 as a global epidemic on March 11, 2020, and this is an important moment that attracted the attention of the world, Ghebreyesus said that Kovid-19 was declared a “public health emergency” by WHO on January 30, 2020. He said it was a more important moment.
Ghebreyesus said, “After 3 years, almost 7 million deaths were reported due to Kovid-19 in this process, although we know the number is higher. We are definitely in a much better position right now than we have been at any time during the pandemic. The number of weekly deaths reported in the last month “It’s gratifying to see that this is lower than when we first used the word ‘pandemic’ three years ago. This year, I’m confident we can say that Covid-19 has ended as a public health emergency of international importance.” used the phrases.
Stating that they are not at the point to say that Kovid-19 is not a public health emergency at the moment, Ghebreyesus explained that more than 5 thousand deaths were reported due to Kovid-19 last week, which is too much for a disease that can be prevented and treated.
Ghebreyesus also emphasized that last week he was informed of the data published in the database of the WHO’s Global Initiative for the Sharing of Influenza Data (GISAID) in late January and was recently removed again, highlighting that the data from the CDC are relevant to data from the Huanan Seafood Market in 2020. underlined that.
Pointing out that scientists from different countries downloaded and analyzed this data during the process when it was available online, Ghebreyesus said, “As soon as we became aware of these data, we contacted the CDC and invited them to be shared with WHO and the international scientific community so that they can be analyzed.” he said.
CALL TO SHARE COVID-19 DATA
Ghebreyesus explained that the Scientific Advisory Group for Investigating the Origin of Kovid-19 Pathogens (SAGO) met on March 14, and asked the researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the international group of scientists to submit their data analysis to SAGO.
“How did the pandemic start?” Stating that he did not give a definite answer to the question, but each of them brought themselves a little closer to this answer, Ghebreyesus pointed out that every piece of data regarding the examination of the origins of Kovid-19 should be quickly shared with the international community.
“This data could and should have been shared 3 years ago,” Ghebreyesus said. “We continue to invite China to be transparent in data sharing, make the necessary investigations and share the results. Understanding how the epidemic started remains both a moral and a scientific imperative.” he said. (AA)