Covid 19 coronavirus: WHO warns easing restrictions early is a ‘recipe for disaster’

Australians are fed up with the lockdown and eager to get back to normal life, but were warned that easing restrictions too soon would be a disaster.

The World Health Organization has issued a stern warning about easing Covid-19 restrictions too soon, as many countries, including Australia, are dealing with deadly second waves of the virus.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he understood that people were tired of being locked up, but warned that rushing to open the economy was a “recipe for disaster” if coronavirus transmission was not under. control.

“WHO fully supports efforts to reopen economies and societies. We want children to go back to school and people to go back to work, but we want it to be done safely,” Tedros said during a news conference on Monday.

“At the same time, no country can simply pretend 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.”

“The more control countries have over the virus, the more they can open up. Opening up without control is a recipe for disaster. It is not a one size fits all, it is not all or nothing.”

This warning comes as Victoria struggles with mounting pressure to lift her tough lockdown measures while suppressing a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews has continually told Victoria residents that it is “too early” to ease restrictions at this time or even have a clear idea of ​​when the state may begin to reopen.

Even though daily Covid-19 cases in the state were in the low 70s on Monday, Andrews said he couldn’t rule out having to extend Melbourne’s strict stage 4 shutdown beyond the end date of 13 December. September.

But to do this, the government will need to obtain an extension of the powers of the state of emergency that allows for the legal framework behind most of the state’s restrictions, a move that has sparked public outrage.

“If we open with numbers similar to what we’ve had, even with a really positive trend, those numbers will skyrocket,” Andrews said.

“We will have a back-and-forth effect when the rules are on and off, that will do enormous damage and of course it also means that we will likely then have many thousands of people needing hospitalization and many people dying.”

There has also been pressure from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for Australian states and territories to remove their rigid borders, and the prime minister is now putting a Christmas deadline on the restrictions.

“What we have to do is keep focusing on the road back. The restrictions on the arrangements that we have today are not things we want to see for Christmas,” Morrison said Monday.

“What we want to know is what will happen when we know only on September 1, but on October 1, and November 1, and December 1 and January 1, because our economy needs to continue on the path back”.

ESSENTIAL STEPS TO REOPENING

Tedros outlined the four essential things that communities need to focus on if they want to get the virus under control enough to start easing restrictions.

The first is avoiding large gatherings, with “explosive blasts” around the world linked to crowds in stadiums, nightclubs, places of worship and many other venues.

The WHO director-general said there are a few ways to safely hold large gatherings, but the most effective way to reduce significant community transmission is to postpone such events.

The second step in reopening the community is to reduce the death rate by providing more protection to vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with underlying health problems and essential workers.

“By protecting those most at risk, countries can save lives, keep people from getting seriously ill, and ease pressure on their health systems,” said Dr. Tedros.

The third essential step is to ensure that people adhere to safety measures such as social distancing, washing hands, and wearing a mask.

People are also urged to avoid the “three Cs”: confined spaces, crowded places, and close contact environments.

The fourth factor in safely easing restrictions is for governments to have a clear plan of action on how to find, isolate, test, and care for Covid-19 cases, while quickly tracking and quarantining close contacts.

“Widespread requests to stay at home can be avoided if countries take temporary and geographically specific interventions,” Tedros said.

The Victorians eagerly await the unveiling of their own roadmap out of the lockdown, which Andrews said would be announced Sunday.

The prime minister hinted at what the reopening plan would entail, but said it was “too early” to nail down the details, and said another week of coronavirus data was needed to finalize the plan.

Some of the “key principles” the roadmap is expected to cover include:

• Ensure physical distancing, with places and businesses following the density requirements and limited the number of personnel and clients in a closed area.

• Make sure staff work from home whenever possible.

• Wear a face shield at all times in the workplace and ensure full PPE is worn in high-risk environments.

• Have high touch points cleaned regularly, ensure staff wash hands regularly, and have hand sanitizers available to staff and clients.

• Act quickly if a staff member becomes ill and make sure they stay home and get tested, even with mild symptoms.

• Hospitality venues can be encouraged to introduce more outdoor dining and services to limit the number of people indoors.

Andrews said the current strategy was working to reduce Covid-19 cases, but more still needed to be done.

“This strategy is working, but it is too early to open up at this point or present a detailed roadmap on what that opening will look like,” he said.

“We will defeat this second wave, and if we do it correctly and we will do it, with an appropriate, safe and constant gradual opening, then we will avoid a third wave.”

“We will avoid losing control of this virus again, seeing thousands of people in the hospital and hundreds of people losing their lives. That is what we are looking for. A set of rules and an openness that lasts for a very short time, if not, working gradually and finding that Covid is normal. “