RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Tedros Adhanom, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Wednesday, May 6th, warned countries about the risks of being forced back into confinement if, when relaxing their Covid-19 restrictions, they fail to conduct the transition “with great care and in a phased approach”.
He listed a number of measures required before countries relaxed measures to control the spread of Covid-19, such as surveillance controls and health system preparedness.
“The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not manage the transition extremely carefully, and in a phased approach,” he said in an online briefing in Geneva.
Tedros, who was at one point criticized for his handling of the outbreak, said he would conduct an assessment of the agency’s response, but wait until the pandemic recedes to do so.
“While the fire is raging, I think our focus should not be divided,” he said.
The director defended the WHO’s protocol on warning about the potential for human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus, saying it informed the world of that in early January.
The organization, based in Geneva, has been accused by its main donor, the United States, of being “China-centric”. The USA has cut off funding to the organization.
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has claimed that he has “evidence” that the novel coronavirus emerged in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, whereas scientists have advised the WHO that it is of animal origin.
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