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the World Health Organization (WHO) He warned on Saturday that recovering the coronavirus may not protect people from reinfection, as the death toll from the pandemic crossed 200,000 worldwide.
Governments are fighting to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has left half of humanity under some form of blockade and reported infections of close to three million.
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The United Nations has teamed up with world leaders to accelerate the development of a vaccine, but effective treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are still far off.
But with signs that the disease is reaching its peak in the US. USA And Europe, governments are beginning to ease the restrictions, weighing the need for economic recovery against warnings that lifting them too soon risks a second wave of infections.
The WHO warned on Saturday that there was still no evidence that people who tested positive for the new coronavirus and recover are immunized and protected against reinfection.
The warning came as some governments study measures such as “immunity passports” or documents for those who have recovered as a way to get people back to work after weeks of economic shutdown.
“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from # COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the WHO said in a statement.
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“People who assume they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice,” he said.
With more than four billion people still under control or orders to stay home, governments are debating how to constantly lift sidewalks, reopen schools, restart businesses and restart economies without causing an increase in virus cases.
Part of that discussion centers on new mobile phone apps to alert people to infections, massive antibody tests to determine who has had the virus and who may be immune, and the public use of face masks to stop transmission.
“If I already had a crown, then I am not infectious,” said Berlin resident Lothar Kopp, hoping to test positive for antibodies as it could allow him to visit his elderly mother.
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Germany has carried out tens of thousands of tests and other countries are also working to determine what their so-called level of immunity may be.
But on Friday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on international organizations, world leaders and the private sector to join in an unprecedented effort to accelerate the development and distribution of a vaccine.
“We are facing a global public enemy like no other,” the UN chief said in a virtual briefing. “A COVID-19 free world requires the most massive public health effort in history.”
Any vaccine must be safe, affordable and available to everyone, Guterres said at the meeting, which was attended by leaders from Germany and France.
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However, leaders of China, where the virus first emerged late last year, and the United States, which accused the WHO of not warning quickly enough about the original outbreak, were absent.
Early stages
The number of daily deaths in western countries appears to be declining, a sign that hopeful epidemiologists have been looking for, but the WHO warned that other nations are still in the early stages of the fight.
Global COVID-19 deaths have increased more than 197,000, according to a AFP Tally, but the new reported cases appear to have stabilized at around 80,000 per day.
The United States is the country most affected by the pandemic, with more than 51,500 deaths and more than 890,000 infections detected.
In a sign of possible risks of reopening, Iranian health officials also expressed fear on Saturday of a “new outbreak” with another 76 reported deaths, bringing the official number of deaths in Iran to 5,650.
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Iran has consistently allowed the restart of businesses that were closed to stop the spread of the virus. But Alireza Zali, the capital’s health coordinator, criticized “hasty reopens” that could “create new waves of disease in Tehran.”
The UN push for a rapid vaccine came a day after United States President Donald Trump sparked protests and ridicule with his suggestion that disinfectants be used to treat patients with coronavirus.
As experts, and disinfectant manufacturers, were quick to warn of any dangerous experiments, the president tried to suppress his comments, saying he had been speaking “sarcastically.”
The pandemic hit the world’s largest economy, with 26 million jobs lost since the crisis began, and US leaders are under pressure to find ways to ease measures of social distancing.
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Georgia’s governor allowed some businesses, such as beauty salons and bowling alleys, to reopen on Friday.
The mayor of the state capital, Atlanta, condemned the measure “irresponsible” and told ABC News: “There is nothing essential in going to a bowling alley or giving a manicure in the midst of a pandemic.”
Lift lock
The unprecedented situation has left the world looking at its worst recession since the Great Depression, and beyond the United States, other countries have already begun to relax restrictions on returning to work.
Italy, with the second-highest number of virus deaths at nearly 30,000, announced plans on Saturday to set price limits on face masks and increase antibody testing as the end of the longest active national coronavirus blockade nears. world.
Italians are awaiting a decision this weekend about which of their restrictions will be lifted and will likely be allowed to move freely from their homes for the first time from March 9 to early May.
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Some professional Italian cyclists like Umberto Marengo have already adapted to the prolonged blockade by dedicating themselves to making food deliveries on their bike through the northern city of Turin as a way to keep fit and help.
“All the customers are amazed,” said Marengo. “Especially since I always try to go upstairs to stay a little bit fitter.”
Sri Lanka said it would lift the national curfew on Monday after more than five weeks, as Belgium joined other European nations in announcing a relaxation starting in mid-May.
In France, which will be closed until May 11, residents still confined to their homes have praised health workers and protested their frustrations with officials on painted banners hanging outside their windows.
“Thank the caregivers, shame on the leaders,” read a banner hanging outside a building in a Paris suburb.
On the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, people held vigils from the isolation of their own ways to pay tribute to their war veterans on Anzac Day. The official monuments were behind closed doors.
Across the Muslim world, hundreds of millions of worshipers also opened the holy month of Ramadan in a position to stay home, facing unprecedented bans on prayers in mosques and at large traditional gatherings of families and friends to break the daily fast.
