WHO: Asia sets a good model for Europe, North America
A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks past a pub in Dublin on Monday as Ireland is poised to be the first EU country to reimpose a national lockdown over second wave of COVID-19.
Europe and North America should follow the example of Asian states by persevering with anti-COVID measures and quarantining anyone who comes into contact with infected people, a World Health Organization expert said on Monday.
Europe has recorded up to 8,500 deaths in the past week — and half the countries have seen a 50 percent rise in COVID-19 cases, Mike Ryan, the body’s top emergency expert, told a news conference.
Over recent months, authorities in Australia, China, Japan and South Korea had reduced the spread by detecting cases, isolating them and quarantining contacts, he said. Their populations had shown “higher levels of trust” in their governments who had kept up measures longer.
“In other words, they ran through the finish line and beyond and they kept running, because they knew the race wasn’t over, that finish line was false.
Too many countries have put an imaginary finishing line and when they cross this may have decelerated some of their activities,” Ryan said.
“The countries in Asia, south Asia, the Western Pacific that have been successful to my mind have really continued to follow-through on those key activities,” he added.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged authorities to persevere in the fight against the coronavirus that has infected over 40 million and killed more than 1 million.
“I know there’s fatigue but the virus has shown that when we let our guard down, it can surge back at breakneck speed and threaten hospitals and health systems,” Tedros said.
Also on Monday, Irish government announced the country would be the first EU nation to return to coronavirus lockdown, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said a nationwide “stay at home” order would be imposed but schools would stay open.
