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The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday of the danger of a second wave of a coronavirus epidemic in the Middle East, saying countries can only avoid mass deaths by rapidly tightening restrictions and implementing preventive measures, writes the MTI. .
Ahmed al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director, expressed concern at a press conference in Cairo that some countries in the region are softening their defenses. Basic epidemiological measures, from staying within the community to wearing a mask, are not yet practiced enough by people, as the overcrowded hospitals in the region demonstrate, he said.
More than 3.6 million people in the area have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 76,000 have died from the infection in the past nine months. In this regard, Mandhari warned that there are at least as many, if not more, lives at stake, so it is necessary to act as soon as possible.
Last week, more than 60 percent of recent coronavirus infection cases were reported in Iran, Jordan, and Morocco. Indicators are also high in Pakistan and Lebanon, where restrictions were introduced during the week. Most of the daily deaths were recorded in Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon.
The situation in Iran is the most serious in the region, where the number of new cases “escaped to the skies”, the hospitals are full. As for the number of daily deaths, the record has been broken six times in the last two weeks in the Persian state, where more than 43,000 people have already died from the infection, the majority in the Middle East. The rising death toll has forced the Iranian government, which was reluctant to impose restrictions due to its economic impact, to tighten restrictions in the capital, Tehran and other major cities. However, the epidemic so far has shown no signs of abating in Iran.
The situation of the coronavirus epidemic has also worsened in Tunisia. However, Health Director Faiszal Ben Salihi reported that restrictions had been relaxed in an attempt to “live with the virus” carefully after officials concluded that bribery would “kill the economy and have catastrophic social consequences.” .
However, the WHO regional director cautiously welcomed the news of the vaccines that promised to be effective, believing that the epidemic was still far from over.
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