COVID NOW DRIVEN BY YOUNGER ADULTS
People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are putting elderly and sick at risk, says top official
Coronavirus cases in AsiaPacific countries are now being driven by people under the age of 50 who may not know they are infected, the World Health Organisation said yesterday, warning of a “new phase” in the pandemic. Many have mild or no Covid-19 symptoms and risk infecting the elderly and other vulnerable populations, the WHO’s Western Pacific regional director Takeshi Kasai said. “The epidemic is changing. People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the threat,” Kasai said. “Many are unaware they’re infected with very mild symptoms or none at all. What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. I believe it’s a signal that we’ve entered a new phase of the pandemic in the Asia-Pacific [region].”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday said it was concerned that the novel coronavirus spread was being driven by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, many of whom were unaware they were infected, posing a danger to vulnerable groups.
WHO officials said the proportion of younger people among those infected had risen globally, putting at risk vulnerable sectors of the population worldwide, including the elderly and sick people in densely populated areas with weak health services.
“The epidemic is changing,” WHO Western Pacific regional director, Takeshi Kasai, told a virtual briefing. “People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread. Many are unaware they are infected.” “This increases the risk of spillovers to the more vulnerable,” he added. A surge in new cases has prompted some countries to re-impose curbs as companies race to find a vaccine for a virus that has battered economies, killed more than 775,000 and infected over 22 million.
Making it worse
Countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to ensure supplies of a possible vaccine are making the pandemic worse, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva yesterday.
“(Acting) strategically and globally is actually in each country’s national interest no one is safe until everyone is safe,” he told a virtual briefing calling for an end to “vaccine nationalism”.
Surges in infections have been reported in countries that had appeared to have the virus under control, including Vietnam, which until recently went three months without domestic transmission due to its aggressive mitigation efforts.
“What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. We believe it’s a signal that we have entered a new phase of pandemic in the Asia-Pacific,” Kasai said.