MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) There is no evidence of the increased transmissibility or mortality of the coronavirus disease, Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said on Monday.
"There's no evidence that the virus has become more transmissible or more deadly," Ryan said at a virtual press briefing.
The official also said that the resurgence of cases across Europe could be explained by more robust case identification, as well as the fact that people tend to spend more time indoors in the fall. At the same time, Ryan said that the WHO's special working group was tracking changes in the virus.
Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for COVID-19, in turn, said that although the word "mutations" sounds scary, such changes in the virus are natural and normal.
"Not all mutations will result in a change in the way that the virus behaves. It is important that we are on top of this. And, very importantly, [we need to check] if any of these mutations change our ability to diagnose through the tests ... And the virus is very stable in that sense," the expert said.
Van Kerkhove added that the diagnostics, the therapeutics and the vaccines that are being developed right now "are still on track" and the mutations of COVID-19 are "normal."
