‘Long, hard road ahead’ for countries taking piecemeal approach to COVID

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that some nations battling the COVID-19 pandemic who have been taking a “fragmented approach” to suppressing the deadly virus, “face a long, hard road ahead.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the regular coronavirus press briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva, that “flare-ups are to be expected as countries start to lift restrictions.”

But he noted that countries with “systems in place to apply a comprehensive approach, should be able to contain these flare-ups locally, and avoid reintroducing widespread restrictions.”

However, he continued, “we are concerned that some countries have not used all the tools at their disposal and have taken a fragmented approach. These countries face a long, hard road ahead.

But one of the lessons of the pandemic is that no matter what situation a country is in, it can be turned around, he added, injecting a note of optimism for countries such as the United States which has seen cases rise steeply in Texas, Florida and Arizona in recent days.

More than 10.3 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and over 506,000 deaths. For the past week, the number of new cases has exceeded 160,000 on every single day, the WHO chief said, adding the chilling perspective that 60% of all cases so far across the world, have been reported just in the past month.

“We will never get tired of saying that the best way out of this pandemic is to take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not physical distancing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not masks alone. Do it all ”, Tedros added.

In March, Italy and Spain were the epicenter of the pandemic, but both brought their epidemics under control with a combination of leadership, humility, active participation by every member of society, and implementing a comprehensive approach.

Original source: UN News
Published on 01 July 2020