No country can just pretend pandemic is over: WHO chief


Geneva, Sep 1 (IANS): Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that he wants to see children returning to school and people going back to work, but at the same time, no country can just pretend that the global Covid-19 pandemic is over.

Addressing a virtual press conference in Geneva on Monday, he said that if countries are serious about opening up, they must be serious about suppressing transmission and saving lives, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Opening up without having control is a recipe for disaster," Tedros said.

He stressed that there are four essential things that need to be done -- prevent amplifying events; reduce deaths by protecting vulnerable groups; individuals must play their part; governments must take tailored actions to find, isolate, test and care for cases, and trace and quarantine contacts.

According to the WHO chief, decisions about how and when to allow gatherings of people must be taken with a risk-based approach and in the local context.

Meanwhile, the latest survey conducted by WHO among over 100 countries showed that 90 percent of the nations have experienced disruption to their health services due to the ongoing pandemic.

In Monday's conference, Tedros said that according to the survey, low- and middle-income countries have been the most affected.

"The survey shows that up to 70 percent of services have been disrupted for essential services including routine immunization, diagnosis and treatment for non-communicable diseases, family planning and contraception, treatment for mental health disorders and cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"However, only 14 percent of countries reported removing user fees, which WHO recommends to offset potential financial difficulties for patients," he added.

Tedros said that the WHO will continue to work with countries to provide tools to maintain essential services.

"For example, WHO is developing a Health Services Learning Hub, a web-based platform that will allow countries to share experiences and learn from each other."

As of Tuesday, the overall number of global coronavirus cases stood at 25,405,556 and the fatalities rose to 849,303.

The US accounted for the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 6,028,617 and 183,579 respectively, while Brazil came in the second with 3,908,272 infections and 121,381 fatalities.

 

  

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Comment on this article

  • myna, mysuru

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    Its a virus and is causing havoc. Countries should focus more on the health and safety of their people than trying to earn revenues. Revenue is required and will come in only if there are people alive and kicking to earn them.

    DisAgree Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • k b r, Mangala Uru

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    this man is not even a doctor... He is b.sc. m. sc. ph. d. types... instead of keeping the morale of countries high, he is keeping on mouthing -ve utterances...

    Hats off to Trump, whatever the corona threat, he was always upbeat and leading from front... "people cannot hide under their beds fearing the virus"

    DisAgree Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • Richard, India

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    I hope next time they elect at least a qualified doctor for the WHO chief position.

    DisAgree Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • True Mlorean, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    Im just sick of listening to his comments. Instead of advising countries what to do next, and suggesting valuables, this guy just passes comments 😓😓

    DisAgree [1] Agree [4] Reply Report Abuse

  • k b r, Mangala Uru

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    full marks to you for the correct assessment...

    DisAgree Agree [3] Reply Report Abuse

  • H Kunder, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    No wonder America has delisted themself from WHO.

    DisAgree Agree [8] Reply Report Abuse

  • John, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    But around 50% american mostly democrats who are left leaning, elites, soros,bill gates, who are against it including obama era CDC officials and administrative authorities. They are still with this evil WHO chief.

    DisAgree Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse

  • John, Mangalore

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    In the name of pandemic left leaning WHO and communists chinese have ruined the economy, with more fear trying further to destroy economy and make everyone slaves of communists chinese finances. Also they chinese forcefully show their military power not only against india, but philipines, taiwan even japan.
    All for, godless communists control of Asia and the world.

    Virus is airborne but some of the scientists had to challenge WHO to accept it. Social distance only a ploy so to Check coming vaccination whether it has been taken or not. What evil has been planned with this vaccine God only knows also it may be more harmful for future viruses or show false positives, one never knows what these communists are upto, to further bring down economy and their evil control. As such so many deaths due to this corona and these communists chinese are ruthless and are still greedy for power.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Shankar, Mangaluru

    Tue, Sep 01 2020

    When will this man's term end as WHO chief?

    DisAgree [3] Agree [10] Reply Report Abuse


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