World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that confusion and complacency in addressing Covid-19 means the pandemic is a long way from over, but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures, Reuters reports.

“We too want to see societies and economies reopening, and travel and trade resuming,” Tedros told a news briefing. “But right now, intensive care units in many countries are overflowing and people are dying — and it’s totally avoidable.”

“The Covid-19 pandemic is a long way from over. But we have many reasons for optimism. The decline in cases and deaths during the first two months of the year shows that this virus and its variants can be stopped,” he added, saying transmission was being driven by “confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures”.