'Even deadlier than Covid-19': WHO director warns next pandemic alert

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has issued a warning that the next pandemic, which might be "even deadlier" than the Covid-19 epidemic, should be anticipated. Following the WHO's announcement that Covid-19 was no longer a global emergency, Tedros made his remark, symbolically putting an end to the tragic pandemic that has killed at least 7 million people worldwide.

Tedros remarked, "The end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency is not the end of COVID-19 as a global health threat." He was presenting his report to the 76th World Health Assembly, the UN agency's governing body.
"The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges in disease and death, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential, remains," he warned.

The WHO director also emphasized that "pandemics are far from the only threat we face" in the face of overlapping and merging crises, highlighting the necessity of efficient global systems that address and respond to emergencies of all types.

He continued, saying that when the next epidemic strikes, which he predicted would happen, "we must be ready to respond decisively, collectively, and fairly." Prior to Covid-19, Tedros acknowledged that most nations had already recovered from the pandemic and that it had been on a decreasing trend for more than a year. He lamented the harm done to the whole community by the pandemic, claiming that the virus had destroyed enterprises and driven multitudes into destitution.