“Some countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas are seeing spikes in cases with multiple factors driving transmission risk”, says @drtedros at @WHO presser. “At present, there is immense pressure on hospitals and health workers."

“With almost 2 million deaths and new variants appearing in multiple countries, the emergency committee emphasized the need for governments to do all they can to curb infections through tried and tested public health measures”, says @DrTedros.

Push for equitable vaccine rollout needs to continue, says @drtedros
"I came into public health, because I wanted to ensure that everyone everywhere has access to quality health services.
I know what it's like to come from a continent where not all health services are available."

“ #COVID19 vaccines are a major scientific breakthrough and I know through COVAX that we will distribute them a lot more effectively than in the past”, says @DrTedros.
"We're working hard, but we must also do more to ensure that vaccines reach those that need them most.”

"I think we are in a race between the virus, who is going to continue trying to mutate in order to spread more easily and humanity, which has to try to stop the [infection] spreading”, says Didier Houssin, who heads the emergency committee.

“We are a little bit paralyzed. We are a little bit confused. And clearly the question of travel around the world by air, by road, by sea, needs to be better … organized”, says Houssin. WHO needs to lead efforts to produce clear guidance on making travel safer, he says.

“This phenomenon of a rapid acceleration of cases is in the Americas, it is in Europe and is in some countries in Africa, and it is in some countries in every region”, says @DrMikeRyan. “A small proportion of that may be due to the emergence of variants that are fitter."

But large part of resurgence is due to changes in behaviour, says @DrMikeRyan. "We're not breaking the chains of transmission. The virus is exploiting our lack of tactical commitment, our fatigue, the breaking down of our behaviors.”

"We need to be real with ourselves, we need to be honest: We're not doing as well as we could”, says @DrMikeRyan. “We know more than we've ever known before. We have more tools. We have to sustain the effort. It's tough. We've got to pick ourselves back up."

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but that tunnel is a long tunnel right now and it's dark and it's dangerous and it's a challenging one that we have to get through", says @mvankerkhove. "But we have the tools to help us get through that" and more are coming.

"We're all in a challenging situation. We're tired or frustrated. We want this to be done”, says @mvankerkhove. “We have to be part of the collective action to prevent ourselves from getting infected and if we do get infected the virus stops with us."

Asked for an update on WHO origins team, @DrMikeRyan pushes back: “We can debate this every day: What do they do today, tomorrow or the next day? They have to have the space to to do the work... This can't be paced on a daily basis and litigated in press conferences"