Health services in over 90% of countries shattered due to COVID-19 : WHO

New Delhi: According to the survey conducted by the WHO(World Health Organization), the health services had been disrupted in over 90 percent countries globally. This survey was conducted in November-December 2021, showed services were "severely impacted" with "little or no improvement" from the previous survey in early 2021, the WHO said in a statement sent to journalists.

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"The results of this survey highlight the importance of urgent action to address major health system challenges, recover services and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the WHO said.

Emergency care, which includes ambulance and ER services, actually worsened with 36% of countries reporting disruptions versus 29% in early 2021 and 21% in the first survey in 2020.

Elective operations such as hip and knee replacements were disrupted in 59% of the countries and gaps to rehabilitative and palliative care were reported in about half of them.

The survey's timing coincided with surging COVID-19 cases in many countries in late 2021 due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, piling additional strain on hospitals.

The WHO statement attributed the scale of disruptions to "pre-existing health systems issues" as well as decreased demand for care, without elaborating.

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The very first case of COVID-19 was reported Dec. 1, 2019, the cause of which was a then-new coronavirus later named SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 which originated in an animal and mutated so it could cause illness in humans. In the past, several infectious disease outbreaks have been traced to viruses originating in birds, pigs, bats and other animals that mutated to become dangerous to humans beings. Research continues, and more study may reveal how and why the coronavirus evolved to cause pandemic.