Brazil Must Adopt Comprehensive Strategy Against Covid-19, Says W.H.O.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Michael Ryan, the Executive Director of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), said on Wednesday, July 1st, that the Covid-19 pandemic is currently “a complex challenge for Brazil“.

Asked during a press conference about the picture in the country, he commented that Brazil is “big and diverse”, which hinders this task. In any event, the W.H.O. Wednesday insisted on the need for all to adopt a comprehensive strategy, adopting the various measures known to be successful in fighting the problem.

Ryan said that Brazil should focus on steps such as reducing mortality and suppressing the transmission of the disease. In addition, governments must “provide the best available information” to citizens about the issue, he said, while not going into detail.

Speaking about the broader picture of nations, Maria Van Kerkhove, the leader of the W.H.O. response to the pandemic, stressed the value of using all the instruments at hand. According to her, even countries with past challenges managed to react. “It is not too late to use this comprehensive approach,” she said.

In parallel, Kerkhove conceded that nations with problematic and uncontrolled transmissions may again have to resort to lockdowns, which she said she hoped would no longer be required.

Vaccine

The World Health Organization’s executive director again cautioned that success in the search for a vaccine against Covid-19 is not guaranteed. Amid optimism over reports of progress in some of the trials, Ryan considered: “This is not taken for granted, there is much hard work to be done.”

During a press conference, Ryan was asked if a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be used against strains of the influenza virus. He said that this is not known either. “We hope that the vaccine in development will work against this strain of the virus and we have yet to see if it provides any extra protection,” he said.

Reopenings

Maria Van Kerkhove also said that “setbacks” in the control of Covid-19 are expected in the process of economic reopening of countries. According to her, the main thing is that when outbreaks of the disease occur, they are fought swiftly and aggressively to contain the transmission chains.

During the press conference, Kerkhove again insisted on measures such as physical distancing of at least one meter at all times, hand hygiene, and that people who feel unwell should stay home. In its press conference, the W.H.O. insisted on the importance of adopting a set of proven measures to control the situation.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo