Opening up without control of Covid-19 is recipe for disaster, says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on countries to persevere with restrictions to tackle Covid-19, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, saying opening up without control of the virus would be a “recipe for disaster”.

Tedros recognised that many people are getting tired of restrictions and want to return to normality after eight months of the new coronavirus.

“We want to see children returning to school and people returning to work places, but we want to see it done safely,” Tedros told a news conference.

“No country can just pretend the pandemic is over,” he said. “The reality is this virus spreads easily. Opening up without control is a recipe for disaster.”

“Explosive outbreaks” have been linked to gatherings of people at stadiums, nightclubs, places of worship and other crowds, where the respiratory virus can spread easily among clusters of people, Tedros said.

“Decisions about how and when to allow gatherings of people must be taken with a risk-based approach, in the local context,” he said.