WHO Says COVID-19 Pandemic is 'One Big Wave', Not Seasonal

A health worker carries out a coronavirus test on a child at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, in China's northeast Liaoning province on July 27, 2020. (AFP)
A health worker carries out a coronavirus test on a child at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, in China's northeast Liaoning province on July 27, 2020. (AFP)
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WHO Says COVID-19 Pandemic is 'One Big Wave', Not Seasonal

A health worker carries out a coronavirus test on a child at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, in China's northeast Liaoning province on July 27, 2020. (AFP)
A health worker carries out a coronavirus test on a child at a makeshift testing center in Dalian, in China's northeast Liaoning province on July 27, 2020. (AFP)

A World Health Organization official on Tuesday described the COVID-19 pandemic as “one big wave” and warned against complacency in the northern hemisphere summer since the infection does not share influenza’s tendency to follow seasons.

WHO officials have been at pains to avoid describing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases like those in Hong Kong as “waves” as this suggests the virus is behaving in ways beyond human control, when in fact concerted action can slow its spread.

Margaret Harris repeated that message in a virtual briefing in Geneva. “We are in the first wave. It’s going to be one big wave. It’s going to go up and down a bit. The best thing is to flatten it and turn it into just something lapping at your feet,” she said.

Pointing to high case numbers at the height of the US summer, she urged vigilance in applying measures and warned against mass gatherings.

“People are still thinking about seasons. What we all need to get our heads around is this is a new virus and... this one is behaving differently,” she said.

“Summer is a problem. This virus likes all weather.”

However, she expressed concern about COVID-19 cases coinciding with normal seasonal influenza cases during the southern hemisphere’s winter, and said the Geneva-based body was monitoring this closely.

So far, she said, laboratory samples are not showing high numbers of flu cases, suggesting a later-than-normal start to the season.

“If you have an increase in a respiratory illness when you already have a very high burden of respiratory illness, that puts even more pressure on the health system,” she said, urging people to be vaccinated against flu.



Cyprus Looking at ICC Arrest Warrants, Says Its Decisions are Binding

FILE PHOTO: The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Cyprus Looking at ICC Arrest Warrants, Says Its Decisions are Binding

FILE PHOTO: The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Cyprus, which has close ties with Israel, considers arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as binding in principle, a government source told Reuters on Friday.
The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former Israeli defense minister and a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for alleged crimes against humanity, reported Reuters.
"The decision is being studied and we have no comment on that. As a matter of principle, the decisions of the International Criminal Court are both respected, and binding," said the government source, requesting anonymity.