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- The World Health Organization held a media briefing on 10 June, to update the public on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
- Despite progress, significant risks remain – but the combination of these risks will differ around the world, as Dr Michael Ryan warns “by no means is this over.”
- Equal access to vaccines must be ensured.
- No data yet to suggest that COVID-19 will be affected by climatic and seasonal changes.
Significant risks remain from COVID-19, explained Dr Michael Ryan and Dr Maria Van Kerkhove during the WHO’s media briefing on 10 June.
But they stressed it’s important to remember that the combination of risks and priorities will vary in different countries and regions. “It might be a pandemic that’s affecting the world, but it’s affecting each country in different ways,” said Dr Ryan. “By no means is this over.”
This pandemic is still evolving and growing in many parts of the world, and we have deep concerns that health systems in many countries are struggling, he explained.
Dr Van Kerkhove said it’s also important to consider the risks associated with non-COVID diseases, for example through disruptions to vaccine programmes.
You can read more on COVID-19-related risks here.
Equal access
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on leaders to commit to making a COVID-19 vaccine accessible to all, when one is discovered.
“The most important thing in ensuring access is political commitment,” he told the briefing.
It must be a global public good, he added.
The stages of vaccine development
Image: Wellcome
Seasonal differences?
It’s too early to say whether COVID-19 might follow similar seasonal cycles as the influenza virus, said Dr Ryan, in response to a question from Brazil about the arrival of winter.
We don’t know how it will behave, and there’s no data to suggest whether it will transmit more aggressively or not, he explained. “We have no indications as to how the disease will behave in the future.”
coronavirus, health, COVID19, pandemic
What is the World Economic Forum doing to manage emerging risks from COVID-19?
The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.
As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.
To help all stakeholders – communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications – a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forum’s annual Global Risks Report.
The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies’ risks perceptions.
Companies are invited to join the Forum’s work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.
Regardless of the impact of any climatic changes, we need to continue to focus on the measures countries are already taking, he added.
Dr Van Kerkhove also urged countries to continue to test for flu as well as COVID-19, to use the well-developed influenza systems that are already in place.
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The stages of vaccine development
Image: Wellcome
Seasonal differences?
It’s too early to say whether COVID-19 might follow similar seasonal cycles as the influenza virus, said Dr Ryan, in response to a question from Brazil about the arrival of winter.
We don’t know how it will behave, and there’s no data to suggest whether it will transmit more aggressively or not, he explained. “We have no indications as to how the disease will behave in the future.”
coronavirus, health, COVID19, pandemic
What is the World Economic Forum doing to manage emerging risks from COVID-19?
The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.
As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.
To help all stakeholders – communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications – a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forum’s annual Global Risks Report.
The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies’ risks perceptions.
Companies are invited to join the Forum’s work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.
Regardless of the impact of any climatic changes, we need to continue to focus on the measures countries are already taking, he added.
Dr Van Kerkhove also urged countries to continue to test for flu as well as COVID-19, to use the well-developed influenza systems that are already in place.
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