Coronavirus may ‘re-surge’ if lockdown restrictions are lifted too early, warns WHO

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc across the world, many countries, including the UK, have ordered lockdowns in order to limit the spread. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed the six key actions that nations must undertake to fight COVID-19. He emphasised that the “last thing” any country needed to do was to open schools and businesses again, risking a “resurgence” of the virus.

Dr Tedros told viewers: “There are six key actions that we recommend.

“First, expand, train and deploy your health care and public health workforce.

“Second, implement a system to find every suspected case at community level.

“Third, ramp up the production, capacity and availability of testing.”

He continued: “Fourth, identify, adapt and equip facilities you will use to treat and isolate patients.

“Fifth, develop a clear plan and process to quarantine contacts.

“And sixth, refocus the whole of government on suppressing and controlling COVID-19.

“These measures are the best way to suppress and stop transmission, so that when restrictions are lifted, the virus doesn’t re-surge.”

The Director-General added: “The last thing any country needs is to open schools and businesses, only to be forced to close them again because of a resurgence.

“Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace are not only the best and fastest way out of extreme social and economic restrictions – they’re also the best way to prevent them.

“More than 150 countries and territories still have fewer than 100 cases.”

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Dr Tedros also said: “By taking the same aggressive actions now, these countries have the chance to prevent community transmission and avoid some of the more severe social and economic costs seen in other countries.

“This is especially relevant for many vulnerable countries whose health systems may collapse under the weight of the numbers of patients we’ve seen in some countries with community transmission.”

At the time of writing, over 450,000 cases of coronavirus around the world have beene confirmed.

Over 20,000 who tested positive have died.

Italy currently has the highest fatality rate, succeeding China, where the virus originated.

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