World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid “We’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far moredeadly than the first.”*Geneva: *
World health experts issued a grim warning Friday that the second year ofCovid-19 was set to be “far more deadly”, as Japan extended a state ofemergency amid growing calls for the Olympics to be scrapped.
“We’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadlythan the first,” said the World Health Organization’s director-generalTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The mood also darkened in Japan where the coronavirus state of emergencytook in another three regions just 10 weeks before the Olympics, whilecampaigners submitted a petition with more than 350,000 signatures callingfor the Games to be cancelled.
With Tokyo and other areas already under emergency orders until the end ofMay, Hiroshima, Okayama and northern Hokkaido, which will host the Olympicmarathon, will now join them.
The move to combat a fourth wave putting Japan’s medical system understrain comes with public opinion firmly opposed to holding the Games thissummer.
Kenji Utsunomiya, once candidate for Tokyo governor, urged Games organisersto “prioritise life” over ceremony as he submitted the petition to capitalauthorities.
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The pandemic has killed at least 3,346,813 people worldwide since the virusfirst emerged in late 2019, according to an AFP tally of official data.
There was bad news for Taiwan too with the capital indefinitely closingdown entertainment venues, libraries and sports centres in the wake of anoutbreak of infections first detected among pilots.
The island has been a global leader in containing the pandemic, with just1,290 confirmed cases and 12 deaths.
Taipei’s decision, effective from Saturday, covers bars, dance clubs,karaoke lounges, nightclubs, saunas and Internet cafes as well as hostessclubs and teahouses.
