WHO urges European nations to remain cautious as Covid restrictions are gradually lifted

Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has asked European nations to lift the lockdown restrictions with caution since there are chances of the cases may multiply once again. Multiple European countries, including Italy, are planning to lift restrictions over the next few weeks in an attempt to return to normalcy. 

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WHO urges caution

During his briefing on Monday, Dr. Adhanom said, "As lockdowns in Europe ease with declining numbers of new cases, we continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue. But the pandemic is far from over. WHO continues to be concerned about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries."

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Earlier, WHO had warned countries to not ignore other diseases such as Malaria and Polio due to the Coronavirus since there could be an increase in the cases of those diseases across the world as well. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said, "I urge all countries to not lose focus on their gains made in health as they adapt to tackle this new threat. We saw with the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa that we lost more people to malaria, for instance than, we lost to the Ebola outbreak. Let us not repeat that with COVID-19.”

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Dr. Adhanom also thanked the world leaders for solidarity during the fight against Coronavirus and said, "WHO is deeply grateful to the many world leaders and partners who have come together to ensure no-one misses out on life-saving vaccines, diagnostics or therapeutics. We look forward to more countries and stakeholders supporting this global collaboration, this global movement. This initiative is a vital investment in the response, both for the short term and the long term."

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