COVID-19: No longer an "emergency", but still a risk

On the afternoon of May 8, the Ministry of Health coordinated with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam to provide information on COVID-19 response measures after the WHO declared the end of the global health emergency, as well as necessary recommendations for Vietnam in the upcoming epidemic prevention work.

Sharing with the press, Dr. Angela Pratt - WHO Representative in Vietnam - said that the current situation of adaptation to COVID-19 has improved, the severity of the disease transmission has decreased, the number of hospitalizations and severe cases has also decreased. "However, when WHO declared COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency, it does not mean that COVID-19 is no longer a threat or less dangerous. We must not let our guard down with COVID-19" - the WHO representative emphasized.

Responding to the question of whether it is time to treat COVID-19 like seasonal flu, the WHO representative said that it is true that the two diseases have similarities. However, COVID-19 is not a seasonal disease. Seasonal flu usually occurs in winter, but COVID-19 is not seasonal - this is something we have seen in many countries. In addition, COVID-19 is still a very new disease. We have only had 4 years to get acquainted with it, while scientists have decades of research on influenza. Therefore, it is too early to treat COVID-19 like seasonal flu. Dr. Angela Pratt said that this is not the time for "us to rest", the number of cases is still increasing, there are still cases requiring special care and there are still deaths. Therefore, although community immunity due to infection and vaccination is high, we still have to be vigilant and have appropriate epidemic prevention measures.

At a meeting on the afternoon of May 8, medical experts recommended always being vigilant against COVID-19.

Regarding the WHO statement, Professor Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health, said that the risk assessment is still high globally, although the number of cases and deaths has decreased globally, there is still an increase in each region. The SARS-CoV-2 virus itself is still changing. In early April 2023, WHO announced that there were about 500 sub-variants of Omicron, but by early May, the number of sub-variants was more than 900.

Regarding the issue of whether Vietnam will declare the end of the epidemic or not, Professor Phan Trong Lan said that our country no longer restricts travel. The nature of SARS-CoV-2 can still move on healthy people, overcoming administrative barriers, so COVID-19 prevention and control must be global, not a problem of a single country or locality. In Vietnam, we have made appropriate responses to the epidemiological situation in the context of each period. In particular, since October 2022, we have shifted to safe, flexible adaptation and effective control.

Professor Phan Trong Lan continued to affirm that the COVID-19 epidemic is difficult to predict, difficult to predict and has increased in each region. Currently, the epidemic is increasing in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Every day, our country still records about 2,000 cases, including hospitalizations, severe cases, and even deaths. About 10% of cases have post-COVID-19 conditions, so this also increases the burden on the health system.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/suc-khoe/covid-19-het-khan-cap-con-nguy-co-20230508210137207.htm