The Delta variant of Covid-19, at the origin of a new wave of contamination in many countries, is a warning that should encourage action to be taken quickly before the appearance of more dangerous mutations, the WHO stressed on Friday.
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"
Delta is a warning, which tells us that the virus is evolving, but it is also a call to act, to do something before more dangerous forms of variants appear,
" said Dr Mike Ryan, in charge of emergency situations at the World Health Organization, during a regular press briefing in Geneva.
But he also wanted to put into perspective the consequences of this mutation of a virus which has already killed more than four million people since the end of 2019. “
The same measures that we applied before will stop this virus.
They stop the Delta variant especially if you add the vaccination,
”insisted Dr. Ryan.
"
We have to work hard because the virus has become more efficient and faster,
" he warned, while insisting that the barrier gestures remain effective.
One person "will infect more people" with Delta
“
On average, a person with this virus will infect more people if they are a carrier of the variant, unless we prevent them by continuing to apply measures that reduce transmission, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, hand hygiene, making sure that we don't spend too much time with too many people in poorly ventilated places and all those measures that we have mentioned so many times,
”he explained.
“
On average in five of the six WHO regions, Covid-19 infections have increased by 80%, or almost doubled, in the space of the past four weeks.
In Africa, deaths have increased by 80% over the same period,
”said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his opening remarks.
“
It doesn't change our strategy, it still works but we have to implement it much more effectively than we have done so far and that also means delivering more vaccines,
” explained Dr Ryan.
No "magic powder" in the face of the virus
"
There is no magic powder, no magic solution, the only magic powder we have are vaccines and the problem is that we do not sprinkle them the same way around the world
", he warned, before adding: "
We are working against ourselves
".
The WHO has not stopped for months to explain that the best way to fight against the pandemic is to distribute vaccines equitably throughout the world, which is far from being the case.