COVID-19 pandemic has had a vast impact on people’s mental health, says the World Health Organisation.

WHO Director, Mental Health and Substance Use, Devora Kestel said COVID-19 has an emotional and internal impact on people.

“We have been discussing this for a while about the anxiety that the current situation has been creating for a long way now,” said Ms Kestel.

“The emotional and internal impact that could be translated into more stress and in some specific issues related to coping mechanisms that were used to face the challenges that we have in terms of isolation, in terms of lack of contact, the fear that we felt for what was coming and the uncertainty that we still have because now we know a lot more than what we knew a year ago.

“But still we don’t know when and how this is going to end and we are still uncertain who close to us will be impacted and what will be the consequences of all if that.

“So again the manifestations may change from one to the other but basically we see, we hear, we read about most of us being somehow impacted in mental health.”

Ms Kestel said people of all age are mentally affected by COVID-19.

“You name children, you name adolescence, all adults, I am afraid maybe nobody has been excluded from this.

“Because children and young, adolescence, kids not going to school or challenges of schooling at home, parents also taking care of that, women frequently doing a number of jobs then they used to at once, all that does affect.”