WHO chief hopes pandemic ends within 2 years
London: The head of the World Health Organisation says he hopes the world can end the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years - less time than it took for the 1918 flu pandemic to be stopped.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described COVID-19 as a once-in-a-century health crisis and said that while globalisation had allowed the virus to spread quicker than the flu did in 1918, there was also now the technology to stop it that hadn't been available a century ago.
We hope to finish this pandemic (in) less than two years, especially if we can pool our efforts, he said during a press briefing on Friday.
WHO's emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan noted that the 1918 pandemic hit the globe in three distinct waves and that the second wave, which started during the fall of 1918, was the most devastating. But he said it didn't appear COVID-19 was following the same pattern.
This virus is not displaying a similar wave-like pattern, he said. When the virus is not under control, it jumps straight back up.
Ryan said that while pandemic viruses often settle into a seasonal pattern, that didn't appear to be the case for the coronavirus.
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'India stands in solidarity': PM speaks to UAE president, condemns attacks on Gulf nation
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night spoke to the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and strongly condemned the attacks on the Gulf nation, saying India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
Mod also thanked the UAE president for taking care of the Indian community living in the Gulf nation, and said New Delhi supports de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability.
"Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
"Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE. We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability," Modi wrote on X.
Iranian strikes across the UAE in the past two days have resulted in three fatalities and injuries to 58 people, including an Indian national, officials confirmed on Sunday.
The Indian Embassy in the UAE, in a social media post, said it was aware of the injury to the Indian national and was in touch with the hospital authorities.
The UAE's defence ministry said it intercepted 165 ballistic missiles, of which 152 were destroyed, and 13 drowned in the sea.
It also destroyed two cruise missiles and 541 Iranian drones, 506 of which were shot down, the ministry said.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a coordinated US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran early Saturday, with the Iranian state media confirming the death on Sunday.
Iran began firing missiles at Israel and the Arab countries in the region in retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader.
