World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed Al-Mandhari, said the Eastern Mediterranean Region have seen, over the past few weeks, the overall number of cases and deaths decline, but the situation remains fragile and unpredictable
“As of 12 September 2021, the Eastern Mediterranean Region has reported more than 15 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 278,000 deaths,” Al-Mandhari said in a virtual press conference held by the regional office.
Al-Mandhari added that “over the past few weeks, we have seen the overall number of cases and deaths in our Region decline, but the situation remains fragile and unpredictable. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen the trends evolve in waves, so despite recent decline in our Region over recent weeks, this pandemic is still far from over.”
“Five of 22 countries in our Region — Egypt, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen — are currently reporting significant surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths,” Al-Mandhari added.
“Looking closely at the epidemiological curve, there is a need to speed up the vaccination process and continue to respect all public health and social measures in all countries,” he stressed.
Low vaccination coverage in several countries, especially low- and lower-middle income countries, Al-Mandhari said, is also of concern due to limited deployment capacities.
“Unfortunately, this means that nine countries are far from achieving WHO’s global target of 10% vaccination coverage by September 2021,” he noted.
SOURCE: JORDAN NEWS AGENCY