As border restrictions and other public health measures are loosened across Europe, the U.S. and in other countries with high vaccination rates, WHO officials warned that this could lead to a resurgence of disease.
The global situation is incredibly fragile, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19.
Van Kerkhove said that while transmission is dropping in Europe, there are numerous events from large sporting events to backyard barbeques that all have consequences for disease spread.
The delta variant, the virus, will continue to evolve,” Van Kerkhove said.
“Right now our public health and social measures work, our vaccines work, our diagnostics work, our therapeutics work. But there may be a time where this virus evolves and these countermeasures don’t.
Earlier this month, British officials announced that they would allow 60,000 fans to attend the semi-finals and finals of the European football championships at London’s Wembley stadium to the dismay of some public health experts.
Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, called it worrying and confusing, saying there was limited data to prove its safety, especially given the prevalence of the more infectious delta variant.
(The) inevitable opportunities for the virus to spread in enclosed spaces like lavatories is a recipe for disaster.”
