WHO investigates potential cluster of COVID-19 cases after 65 infections among staff

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on November 16 informed that there had been 65 coronavirus infections among staff at its Geneva headquarters since the start of the pandemic. The UN body said that the they have not yet established whether any transmission has occurred on campus, however, they are looking into the matter. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead of COVID-19, said that the five WHO staff members had tested positive in the past week and a total of 49 cases have occurred in the last eight weeks. 

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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday also marked his returned from quarantine after being identified as a contact of someone who tested positive for the deadly virus. While speaking at the WHO’s governing body, the World Health Assembly, Tedros said that to his knowledge the cluster being investigated is the “first evidence of potential transmission” on the site of WHO, however, he added that the officials can’t completely protect themselves from their own social and other engagements with family and school and so many other things. 

He said, “I was okay, no symptoms. It’s day 17 now. I followed the protocols. Because of no symptoms and also the full follow-up of the protocol, I didn’t see the need for testing. I can assure you that I’m okay and actually very, very busy”. 

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WHO warns vaccine won’t stop pandemic 

Meanwhile, the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has been raging for months now, with infections soaring past 54 million and claiming over 1.3 million lives. The UN agency on Saturday also noted that nearly 660,905 cases were reported, setting a new high watermark. A day before, 645,410 cases were also registered, surpassing the previous daily record high of 614,013 recorded on November 7. 

With the virus spreading rapidly across the globe, Tedros said that a coronavirus vaccine would not by itself stop the pandemic. He said that a vaccine will complement other tools that the world has, and not replace them. He added that the supplies of the vaccine would initially be restricted, with health workers, older people and other at-risk populations to be prioritised. He added that the vaccine restriction will hopefully reduce the number of deaths and enable the health systems to cope. 

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