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ZURICH: A special COVID-19 envoy from the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021, if governments repeat what he said they did not do what was necessary to prevent the second. wave of infections.
“They missed building the necessary infrastructure during the summer months, after the first wave was brought under control,” said David Nabarro of the WHO in an interview with Swiss newspapers.
“Now we have the second wave. If they don’t build the necessary infrastructure, we will have a third wave early next year,” said Nabarro, a Briton who unsuccessfully campaigned to become WHO director general in 2017.
Europe briefly enjoyed falling infection rates that are now rising again: Germany and France on Saturday saw cases rise by 33,000 combined, Switzerland and Austria have thousands of daily cases, while Turkey reported a record 5,532 new infections.
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Nabarro highlighted Switzerland’s move to allow skiing, with necessary masks on the gondolas, as other Alpine nations like Austria have closed resorts. Nabarro said Switzerland could reach a “very high level of illness and death.”
“Once infection rates go down, and they will sink, then we can be as free as we want,” Nabarro told the Solothurner Zeitung. “But right now? Should the ski resorts open? Under what conditions?”
Nabarro praised the response from Asian countries like South Korea, where infections are now relatively low: “People are completely compromised, they adopt behaviors that hinder the virus. They keep their distance, wear masks, isolate themselves when they are sick.” , wash hands and surfaces. They protect the most threatened groups. “
Nabarro also said that Asia did not relax restrictions prematurely.
“You have to wait until the number of cases is low and stay low,” he said. “Europe’s reaction was incomplete.”
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