UNITED NATIONS, :The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments around the globe to ensure necessary care for the coronavirus patients reporting long-term symptoms, including damage to major organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough we\u2019re still learning about the virus, what\u2019s clear is that this is not just a virus that kills people. To a significant number of people, this virus poses a range of serious long-term effects,\u201d WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, speaking in Geneva on Friday during the UN agency\u2019s latest virtual press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation also underscores how herd immunity is \u201cmorally unconscionable and unfeasible\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The WHO Director-General described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as \u201creally concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs \u2013 including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is imperative that Governments recognize the long-term effects of COVID-19 and also ensure access to health services to all of these patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis includes primary health care and when needed specialty care and rehabilitation.\u201d
Three patients \u2013 an epidemiologist, a nurse and a 26-year-old software engineer \u2013 shared their experiences with COVID-19 and its long-term consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Paul Garner, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in England, was \u201cfit and well\u201d when he fell ill with the disease in March.
For four months, he battled cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, mood swings and other symptoms, followed by three months of complete exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I overdid things, the illness would echo back, it would come back. And it was completely unpredictable,\u201d he said, speaking via videolink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Garner reported that his health has only begun to improve within the past two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never thought I would have seven months of my life wiped out by this virus,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has just gone, evaporated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stories like this underline how people facing the long-term effects of COVID-19 must be given the time and care they need to recover fully, according to the WHO chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt also reinforces to me just how morally unconscionable and unfeasible the so-called \u2018natural herd immunity\u2019 strategy is,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cnot only will it lead to millions more unnecessary deaths, it will also lead to a significant number of people facing a long road to full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that herd immunity is only possible when a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine has been distributed globally, and equitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd until we have a vaccine, Governments and people must do all that they can to suppress transmission, which is the best way to prevent these post-COVID long-term consequences,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, :The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments around the globe to ensure necessary care for the coronavirus patients reporting long-term symptoms, including damage to major organs. \u201cAlthough we\u2019re still learning about the virus, what\u2019s clear is that this is not just […]<\/p>\n
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