World Health Organization expert: Second year of coronavirus pandemic could be more difficult

The World Health Organization has warned of a widespread outbreak of a mutated strain of the coronavirus. Experts from this international organization are concerned that the second year of the coronavirus outbreak will be more difficult than the first.

Due to the spread of a mutant strain of the coronavirus that is significantly more contagious than the previous strain, the World Health Organization has brought forward its emergency committee meeting by two weeks. Members of the committee will meet in Geneva today, Thursday, January 14, to discuss the new pandemic situation.

Two mutant strains of the coronavirus have been detected in the UK and South Africa in recent weeks, with the virus being significantly more contagious than the previous strain. The mutant viruses have spread to about 50 countries around the world.

Japan also announced on Sunday the discovery of another mutant virus that appears to have originated in the Amazon region of Brazil. This new type of coronavirus is currently under investigation and testing.

The World Health Organization's deputy director-general has said that despite the production of the first vaccines, there is still a long way to go to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. "Given the different aspects of the virus outbreak, the second year of the pandemic may be more difficult than the first," Mike Ryan said.

This virologist is coordinating the fight against the coronavirus pandemic at the World Health Organization, which is specifically focused on the Northern Hemisphere, because so far the mutated and more contagious type of the virus has been more prevalent in this part.

Maria Van Kerkhove, another virologist at the World Health Organization, referred to the recent Christmas and New Year holidays and said that after these holidays, the situation in some countries has worsened instead of getting better.

World Health Organization experts arrive in Wuhan

After several days of delay, the World Health Organization's mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China has finally begun. A 10-member team of experts from the international organization arrived in the metropolis of Wuhan on Thursday, January 14, where the first cases of the coronavirus were detected in 2019.

The investigation was supposed to begin last week, but delays in issuing permits from the Chinese government delayed it.

World Health Organization experts must remain in quarantine for two weeks due to strict regulations from the Chinese government.

Source: DW