The United Nations health organ warned that such measures could not be maintained indefinitely (File)
Keeping borders closed to stop the spread of COVID-19 is not sustainable, the World Health Organization said on Monday, urging countries to adopt comprehensive strategies based on local knowledge of where the virus is. propagates.
Border closures and travel restrictions remain an important part of many countries’ strategy to tackle the novel coronavirus.
At the same time, increasing cases in a number of countries in Europe and elsewhere that had relaxed measures after appearing to be in control of their outbreaks have sparked discussions of further border closures.
But the United Nations health body has warned that such measures cannot be sustained indefinitely, and are also only useful when combined with a wide range of other measures to detect and break chains of transmission.
“Continuing to keep international borders sealed is not necessarily a sustainable strategy for the global economy, for the world‘s poor or for anyone else,” Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergency director, said at the meeting. ‘a virtual briefing.
“It will be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders closed for the foreseeable future,” he said, stressing that “economies must open, people must work, trade must resume”.
He acknowledged that when it comes to COVID-19, it is impossible to have a “one global policy” because outbreaks develop differently in different countries.
While countries where community transmission is endemic may need to use the blunt instrument of lockdowns to take control of the situation, others should burrow to get a clear overview of the place and how the virus is spread locally.
– Do not “release the pressure” –
They should be prepared to tighten or relax measures accordingly, he said, warning of a “release of pressure” on the virus, which has killed some 650,000 people and infected 16.3 million worldwide. .
“Release the pressure on the virus and the numbers can go up.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO COVID-19 technical officer, said that instead of expecting drastic measures to keep the virus under control, people need to adapt their behaviors over the long term.
“What we’re going to have to figure out … is what our new normal looks like?” she told reporters.
“Our new normal includes physical distancing from others, (and) wearing masks where appropriate,” she said.
“Our new standard is knowing where this virus is every day, where we live, where we work, where we want to travel.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
