James Kon
The Ministry of Health advises the public to continue good health practices as the average daily cases of COVID-19 infections over the week continue to rise.
The ministry yesterday reported an increase of new cases for the second consecutive week, recording an average 978 cases per day last week compared to 668 cases per day over the previous week.
The ministry said 40,796 antigen rapid test (ART) results were uploaded to the BruHealth application within one week of which 16.6 per cent were positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the ministry reported 817 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, of which 815 were from ART results and two from RT-PCR laboratory tests.
There is one case in Category 5 receiving treatment in the intensive care unit and seven cases in Category 4 requiring oxygen assistance and are under close supervision.
The ministry advised to continue practicing good personal hygiene and proper cough and sneeze etiquette.
The ministry also urged individuals aged 18 and above, especially those suffering from chronic diseases and the elderly, to get a booster dose of the vaccine (bivalent type). A booster dose can be obtained six months from the last dose received or from the previous COVID-19 infection.
On May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) said COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide, reported the Associated Press.
The announcement, made more than three years after WHO declared the coronavirus an international crisis, offers some relief, if not an ending, to a pandemic that stirred fear and suspicion, hand-wringing and finger-pointing across the globe.
The United Nations health agency’s officials said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t finished, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
WHO said thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week, and millions of others are suffering from debilitating, long-term effects. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, warning that new variants could yet emerge. Tedros noted that while the official COVID-19 death toll was seven million, the real figure was estimated to be at least 20 million.
