WHO urges countries to 'wake up' and 'take control' of coronavirus pandemic

In a dire warning to the nations, the World Health Organization on July 3 urged countries to “wake up” to the coronavirus pandemic realities on the ground as the situation continues to spiral out of hand with millions infected, and to “take control”. At a briefing hosted by the UN correspondent's association in Geneva, WHO warned the world about the lackadaisical approach to the health crisis, hinting at reopening and non-adherence of protective masks use in many countries that were now witnessing a surge in cases. 

“People need to wake up. The data is not lying. The situation on the ground is not lying,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told journalists at a briefing. WHO’s warnings come as the coronavirus impacted at least 11.01 million people and claimed the lives of 525,392 worldwide. The United States, among the hardest-hit regions, continues to witness the skyrocketing numbers with over 57,000 cases in the past 24 hours, as per reports. Further, many Latin American and Asian countries witness a rise in the infections with the reopening of the economies and the resumption of businesses.  

There are good economic reasons that the countries need to bring their economies back online, Ryan said, adding, It's understandable, but you can't ignore the problem either. The problem will not magically go away.

With a record level of new daily COVID-19 cases worldwide, WHO urged the countries to “halt” the pandemic and not stay in denial. Speaking about the dilution of lockdown measures and the use of protective face-covering in Brazil and Mexico despite rising death toll, Ryan said, “too many countries are ignoring what the data is telling them,” warning about the surge in casualties.  While insisting that “it is never too late in an epidemic to take control,” WHO acknowledged that with the new normal, countries had some “pretty stark choices” to make while addressing the press conference.  

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A ‘long and hard road ahead’

Earlier, during an online briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused some nations of adopting a fragmented approach towards the coronavirus pandemic. Warning that the countries were not taking the crisis seriously, he said that the health emergency will face a ‘long and hard road ahead’ to recovery. Further, the WHO urged the Southeast Asian nations to focus on mental health and suicide prevention during the ongoing pandemic as more and more people were now socially isolated. 

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