[ad_1]
“Great movement restrictions that keep many people at home and limit the ability of many to work and socialize mustn be the last resort in preventing COVID-19 and preventing health systems from becoming saturated“Said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic at a press conference.
The official source added that this type of measure “are not sustainable, given the great social and economic impact”.
Jasarevic insisted that “it is not a matter of choosing between leaving the virus free or closing our societies,” and stressed that there are more tools to combat the pandemic that include hand hygiene, physical distancing, the use of masks, and by health networks the tracking of cases and contacts.
The spokesperson affirmed that the coronavirus containment measures must always depend on local risk reports, and stressed that the confinements at the national level “cannot be the default control measure”.
He also admitted that “some countries have been forced to issue orders for their citizens to stay at home to manage rapid increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations”And thus gain time to improve the response capacity of their health systems.
The WHO also warned this Monday that “it is not an option” let the new coronavirus circulate freely so that the population acquires herd immunity, as some have suggested.
“Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy to respond to an epidemic, much less a pandemic. It is scientifically and ethically problematic ”, declared the director of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a press conference.
“Letting go of a dangerous virus, of which we do not understand everything, is simply unethical. It is not an option”Ghebreyesus insisted.
According to the WHO, which cites various epidemiological studies, the fatality rate for COVID-19 is approximately 0.6%.
“It may seem small, but it is much higher than for the flu”Explained Maria Van Kerkhove, who is responsible for managing COVID-19 at WHO.
“The vast majority of people in most countries can contract the virus. Seroprevalence research suggests that in most countries, less than 10% of the population was infected“, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus finished.
[ad_2]
