WHO: More than 1 million dead from COVID-19 so far in 2022

Shafaq News/ WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said it was “concerning” and “tragic” that more than one million people died from COVID-19 this year. 

She expects more hospitalizations and deaths as the virus circulates worldwide.

Van Kerkhove said the toll was “heartbreaking” because the tests, treatments, vaccines, and public health measures to control the disease were all available.

“Given we’re in the third year of the pandemic, it’s... all the more so tragic given that we have the tools that can prevent these deaths,” she told a live interaction on the WHO’s social media channels.

“A lot of us have become numb to the numbers.”

“We need a reality check. We need to take stock of where we are. We should not be in a position with 14,000 or 15,000 people dying weekly. We just shouldn’t.”

Van Kerkhove insisted that the pandemic was not over, but it could be brought to an end while people lived their daily lives.

“We just need to put a little extra thought into being a bit more careful,” she said.

“A lot of people are talking about living with COVID. But we need to live with this responsibly.

“A million deaths this year is not living with COVID. Having 15,000 deaths per week is not living with COVID-19 responsibly.”

Nearly 6.45 million deaths have been reported to the WHO since the virus was first detected in China in late 2019.

More than 5.3 million new cases were reported to the UN health agency last week.

“These are huge numbers, and that’s an underestimate,” said Van Kerkhove, with home testing not being reflected in surveillance data.

“We do see this virus circulating intensely around the world.”

“The virus is not going away, unfortunately.”