The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially confirmed that COVID-19 cases and fatalities are declining globally.
The global body, which disclosed this on its official Facebook account, however, insisted that it is “far too early to declare victory” over the pandemic.
WHO also noted that the Omicron variant has been responsible for a significant increase in the number of hospitalisations and deaths.
It is the first time the global organisation has confirmed a reduction in infections since the declaration of the 4th wave of the pandemic in 2021.
This as Nigeria recorded only two cases on Monday, the lowest daily infections since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
WHO’s position
In a video, the director-general of WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said some countries are experiencing a decline in infections and fatalities, and have been able to ease restrictions with low rates of hospitalisation.
“It is encouraging to see that there’s from COVID-19 are now declining globally and in most regions and it’s pleasing to see some countries being able to relax restrictions without their health systems being overwhelmed,” he said.
Speaking further, the WHO boss said it might be too early to declare victory over COVID-19, saying there are still many countries with high rates of hospitalisation and low rates of vaccine coverage and design transmission.
He added that the threat of a new and more dangerous variant remains very real, urging all countries to exercise caution.
Mr Ghebreyesus also re-emphasised that the only sustainable way out of the pandemic is to reach high vaccine coverage in all countries.
“We must now turn our attention to addressing the crucial question of how we turn vaccines into vaccinations. How we ensure all countries have enough tests, enough oxygen to treat patients, and enough PPE to keep health workers safe,” he said.
Nigeria’s update
The latest statistics released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) late Monday night, shows that Nigeria’s fatality toll remains at 3,142 while the infection toll now stands at 254,659.
The breakdown of the latest cases shows that Kaduna State in the North-west and Rivers State in the South-south reported a single case each.
NCDC also noted that Lagos State and the FCT have not recorded cases for the past three and two days respectively.
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