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New York, NY, January 29, 2021 One year since the WHO declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern, more infectious COVID-19 strains are spreading in conflict-affected and refugee-hosting countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, and Greece, while new variants are feared to be spreading in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Stacey Mearns, Senior Technical Advisor for Emergency Health at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said,
“The world should be extremely worried about these new variants spreading in conflict-affected countries. As they are more infectious, we are already seeing a dramatic rise in cases, which will strain health systems even more - potentially beyond their breaking point. What’s more is that more transmission means there is potential for further
communications [at] rescue.org
New York, NY, January 29, 2021 One year since the WHO declared the disease a public health emergency of international concern, more infectious COVID-19 strains are spreading in conflict-affected and refugee-hosting countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, and Greece, while new variants are feared to be spreading in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Stacey Mearns, Senior Technical Advisor for Emergency Health at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said,
“The world should be extremely worried about these new variants spreading in conflict-affected countries. As they are more infectious, we are already seeing a dramatic rise in cases, which will strain health systems even more - potentially beyond their breaking point. What’s more is that more transmission means there is potential for further mutations to occur and more variants to emerge. This is why it is critical that everyone around the