WHO warns against rushed end to coronavirus lockdowns

cde.news desk 7 May 2020, 07:15 · 1 min read

An Indian girl wearing a face mask peeps out from the window at city bus after the city eased the lockdown, in Bangalore, India. EPA-EFE/JAGADEESH NV

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that countries emerging from restrictions to halt the new coronavirus must proceed “extremely carefully” or risk a rapid rise in new cases.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries needed to ensure they had adequate measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory disease like tracking systems and quarantine provision.

“The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach,” he said at a virtual briefing in Geneva.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove supported his concerns about the disease which has infected 3.71 million globally and killed more than 258,000 people, according to a Reuters tally.

“If lockdown measures are lifted too quickly, the virus can take off,” Van Kerkhove told the briefing.

Government-ordered lockdowns have become increasingly unpopular as countries suffer rising unemployment and economic activity grinds to a halt.

WHO warns against rushed end to coronavirus lockdowns

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