The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called for the suspension of all events, in order to avert a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases during this year’s Christmas festivities.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, he said cases involving the Omicron and Delta variants are currently on the increase, thus, the need for suspension of all events during the Yuletide season.
“An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled. It’s better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later,” Mr Ghebreyesus said.
“All of us are sick of this pandemic. All of us want to spend time with friends and family. All of us want to get back to normal. The fastest way to do this is for all of us, leaders and individuals to make the difficult decisions that must be made to protect ourselves and others,” he added.
A few weeks ago, scientists in South Africa discovered the Omicron variant as the latest strand of the pandemic. Following this development, the WHO reported that the new variant is spreading across the world, thus, the need to aggressively mitigate its impact.
The WHO believes that the cancellation of all festive activities this Christmas will go a long way to limit the spread.
Reacting to the call by the WHO, scores of individuals on social media have expressed varied opinions.
For some, the spread of the pandemic has heightened because of lax in the enforcement of the safety protocols. Therefore, the suspension of events is not a prudent measure. Others have also indicated that the bliss of Christmas should not be disrupted by such restrictions.