THE World Health Organization (WHO) says countries of the world opening up their economies amid rising cases of COVID-19, should do so with recourse to safety and precautions.
Tedros Adhanom, Director General of WHO, who issued the warning on Wednesday in Switzerland, said no matter the urgency to open up, no nation should pretend as if COVID-19 is over.
Adhanom said the WHO was not against opening of economies and schools, but warned that any country that wants to open up must put in place adequate measures that would suppress the virus, adding that any complicity will lead to a disaster.
“WHO fully supports efforts to reopen economies and societies. We want to see children returning to school and people returning to the workplace,” he said.
“But we want to see it is done safely. At the same time, no country can just pretend that the pandemic is over. The reality is that this coronavirus spreads easily. It can be fatal to people of all ages and most people remain susceptible.”
“If countries are serious about opening up, they must be serious about suppressing transmission and saving lives. This may seem like an impossible balance but it is not. It can be done and it has been done. But it can only be done if countries are in control of transmission.”
According to him, the more control countries have over the virus, the more they can open up noting that opening up without having control is a recipe for disaster.
The cases of COVID-19 have risen to more 25 million with more than 850,000 fatalities all over the world.
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