'COVID is still here': Dr. Summers says after WHO declares COVID-19 still a global health emergency
Monday marks three years since World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus first declared COVID-19 to be a global health emergency.
At the WHO’s annual executive board meeting, Tedros said, “There is no doubt that we're in a far better situation now than a year ago” when the highly transmissible Omicron variant was at its peak.
But after days of deciding the status of the pandemic internationally, the WHO announced that COVID-19 continues to be a global health emergency.
On Monday, the advisory panel found that the pandemic may be nearing an “inflection point” due to higher levels of immunity which could reduce the number of deaths related to COVID-19.
Three years after the virus was first declared a global emergency, many Canadians have returned to lpre-pandemic life without masking or restrictions in place in Ontario.
“COVID is still here and it continues to make an impact across the globe,” said Dr. Alex Summers, medical officer of health at the Middlesex-London Health Unit.
“The message from the WHO is to continue to vaccinate, to continue to be vigilant for emerging variants is really important for us, even here in southwestern Ontario,” he said.
The severity of getting COVID-19 has shifted, however, “This isn't a benign infection, this isn’t something to ignore, it’s still worthwhile to avoid getting sick with this virus,” said Summers.
Despite the number of hospitalizations in Ontario falling after a recent uptick, Peter Bergmanis with the London Health Coalition told CTV News London the health care system is still under strain.
“If there’s anything we should’ve been doing it's starting to properly fund the hospital system so that we wouldn’t have such a crisis that we’re in now,” Bergmanis said. “In hospitals and nursing homes staff are still off with COVID and we’re not even doing the most basic things to prevent the spread.”
Tedros explained that there is still concern about the impact of the virus, “Since the beginning of December we had reported deaths rising. In the past eight weeks more than 17,000 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19."
In a statement, the WHO said, “The committee acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic may be approaching an inflection point,” explaining that higher levels of immunity due to vaccination or infection may limit the impact of COVID-19 on “morbidity and mortality.”
— With files from The Associated Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.