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WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus makes it clear that the coronavirus will be around the world for “a long time.” At his press conference on Wednesday, the agency chief said he was concerned about an increase in cases in South America and said that protests by citizens against quarantines “do not help” and could increase the outbreak. He referred to acts against quarantine registered in different places, including in the United States and Brazil.
The agency, however, aims to stabilize and even decrease numbers in some parts of Europe.
“Globally, almost 2.5 million cases have been recorded. More than 160,000 deaths. We see different trends in different regions and even within regions,” he said. “In western Europe, we see stability or decreasing numbers. But there are worrying trends in South America and Africa,” he said. “Many countries are at an early stage. Others are seeing cases reappear,” he said.
Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical director, confirmed that the South American situation is worrying. “What we see is an increase in trends in several countries in South and Central America and that is worrying,” he said, without mentioning the names of the countries. According to her, the risk is that if the virus consolidates and there is transmission between people, it can increase rapidly and the number of cases can double in just three or four days. Today, there are more than one hundred thousand cases in the Latin American continent.
For the specialist, the governments of the region should focus on putting laboratories, monitoring systems and other measures into operation to allow the identification of cases.
According to her, some countries have established measures of social distance. “It gained time. But these governments need to use that time wisely,” he said. “There is still a window of opportunity to suppress transmission and prevent further outbreaks,” he warned. “The path of the outbreak depends on how countries react,” he insisted.
Anti-quarantine acts
When asked about the protest by citizens in different parts of the world against quarantine, Tedros insisted that, at bottom, it is a “trust between citizens and governments”.
But he made it clear that “the protests are not going to help.” “They will only put fuel in the outbreak,” he warned.
Michael Ryan, WHO chief of operations, also stressed the need for such protests in some countries, including São Paulo and other Brazilian cities, to be addressed by political leaders as a result of a crisis of confidence. For him, such leaders must adopt better communication. For him, there is still a risk that such demonstrations will be targeted and manipulated, which would be negative.
But he cautions that community frustration must be treated as a “dialogue process” in which political leaders explain why a strategy is being implemented.
Calling for transparency, Ryan further insisted that such frustration on the part of society is amplified when there is “confusion” between different levels of government. “People don’t know who to listen to,” he warned.
Ryan admitted that prolonged quarantines “should and can be avoided.” But on the condition that governments be aggressive in treating the outbreak. “The risk is to withdraw these measures without a strategy,” he warned.
Long way
In Tedros’ assessment, the idea that the end of quarantine means the end of the virus is an illusion. “We have a long way to go. The virus will be with us for a long time,” he said.
According to the WHO director, quarantine strategies and orders to stay home were “successful in reducing transmission.” “But it is still very dangerous and most of the world is still susceptible, which means there is a risk,” he said.
According to the WHO, the countries that had controlled the epidemic experienced a change in the number of cases.
“Complacency is a greater danger,” said Tedros. “We understand that many want to continue with their lives. The WHO wants that, too. But we cannot go back to the world because it was a lot. We need a new normal. Safer and more prepared,” he said.
To allow this transition at the end of a quarantine, the WHO insists that governments must establish systems that can find each new case and isolate the infected.
Tedros also clarified that proving all cases does not mean proving all people in a society. But he insists that it is time to create a capacity to react if the outbreaks happen again.
One of the problems is the lack of preparation in various countries. According to him, worldwide, only 66% of countries have a clinical referral system for coronavirus cases and only 48% have a plan to involve society. “There are many gaps in the defense,” he warned.
Meanwhile, in the past week, some countries have seen a 300% and 250% increase in the number of cases. “We are at the beginning in Africa,” he warned.
Do not give up
Under heavy attack from the US government for allegedly being slow to respond to the crisis, Tedros defended himself again. According to him, the emergency declaration took place on January 30, when there were only 82 cases outside of China and only ten in Europe.
“The emergency was declared at the right time and when the world had enough time to respond. It was enough to cut (the problem) at its roots,” he warned.
When asked if he would respond to a request by American politicians close to Donald Trump to resign, Tedros insisted only that “he will continue to work day and night to save lives.”
