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LONDON / GENEVA: The WHO’s top emergency expert has said that parts of the world are beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic to resume some kind of normal life, however the virus will pose significant risks until the outbreaks develop. vaccines.
Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency program, said that while many countries are still in the eye of the storm, others began to show that it is possible to contain the disease to some degree.
“In that sense, there is hope,” said Ryan. Reuters in an online interview from Geneva.
“Globally, the situation is still very, very serious, but the pattern of the disease and the trajectory of the virus are very different in different parts of the world at the moment,” he said.
“What we are learning is that it is possible to control this disease and it is possible to begin to resume normal economic and social life, with a new way of doing it and with extreme caution and vigilance.”
However, some countries in Africa and Central and South America are still seeing “an upward trajectory in cases” and, while it may seem like they don’t have a big problem yet, the availability of evidence remains a problem, Ryan added.
More than 3.44 million people are reported to be infected with the new coronavirus worldwide and 243,015 have died, according to a Reuters count through Sunday.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December.
“We are in the midst of fighting our lives, all of us around the world,” Ryan said. “There will be significant and widespread risk until we get to a point where we have a safe and effective vaccine available to everyone.”
Ryan said that some countries, including China, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand and others, had reached what he described as “a stable state” regarding the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Europe and North America are beginning to emerge from “very intense epidemics” of the disease and are now trying to navigate a safe way out of severe restrictions on economic and social activities imposed in recent months, he said.
After months of severe blockade, people in Italy and Spain began to enjoy a little more freedom on Sunday. Israel has opened some schools, while South Korea said it would further relax social distancing rules starting May 6, allowing a gradual reopening of companies.
Ryan said this showed “not that the virus can be absolutely defeated, but that we can get to a point where we have enough control over the virus so that our social and economic lives can start again.”
However, he reiterated that any government seeking to relax the restrictions must do so with extreme caution.
The WHO warned on Friday that countries should lift the blockades gradually, while remaining “vigilant” about COVID-19 and ready to re-establish restrictions if the virus recedes.
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