Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet, more variants will follow, warns WHO

New Delhi: In a significant warning, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan on Friday said that the world was not at the end of the Covid pandemic yet as there would be more coronavirus variants, as reported by international news agency Reuters. She said the world has seen the virus evolve and mutate. “So we know there will be more variants, more variants of concern, so we are not at the end of the pandemic,” Swaminathan was quoted as saying by Reuters.Also Read - UK Lifts All Testing Requirements For Vaccinated Travelers

Swaminathan made these remarks while speaking to reporters in South Africa, where she was visiting vaccine manufacturing facilities with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a separate interview to Bloomberg, Swaminathan had earlier on January 27 said that nobody can predict when the pandemic will end. Also Read - COVID-19: Hong Kong Extends Ban On Flights From India, US, Seven Other Countries

“Let’s not declare the pandemic over as some people are doing now. It would be foolish to drop all precautions that we’ve been taking all this time. We need to continue that and hopefully by the end of 2022, we’ll be in a much better position. A variant can arise anywhere and you’re back to square one. We still need to be cautious,” she said. Also Read - 7 Tips to Follow to Make Your Train Ride More Comfortable, Safe And Fun