Rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions could cause resurgence, WHO warns
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness, a warning that comes as governments start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again.
“This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
He said governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus and the lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.
Despite concerns from health officials, some U.S. states on Monday announced aggressive reopening plans, while Boeing and at least one other U.S. heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production. Elsewhere around the world, step-by-step reopenings were underway in Europe, where the crisis has begun to ebb in places such as Italy, Spain and Germany.
Australia said Tuesday that it will allow the resumption of non-urgent surgeries from next week as health authorities grow more confident that hospitals there won’t be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
The reopenings come as politicians grow weary of soaring unemployment numbers and the prospect of economic depression. Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday after U.S. oil futures plunged below zero because of a worldwide glut as factories, automobiles and airplanes sit idled.
The cost to have a barrel of U.S. crude delivered in May plummeted to negative $37.63 as traders run out of places to store it. It was at roughly $60 at the start of the year.
[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]
Businesses that start operating again in the U.S. are likely to engender good will with President Donald Trump at a time when his administration is doling out billions in relief to companies. Trump has been agitating to restart the economy, singling out Democratic-led states and egging on protesters complaining that the shutdowns are destroying their livelihoods and trampling their rights.
In several states — most of them Republican-led — governors said they had seen signs that the coronavirus curve was flattening, making it possible to start reopening businesses and public spaces.
“There is definitely still some concern and do we feel 100 per cent safe? Obviously not,” said William Wilkinson, a Bobcat welder and president of a United Steelworkers union local. He said workers there were wearing face masks and keeping their distance from one another.
Worldwide the virus has infected nearly 2.5 million people and caused more than 170,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University count. The U.S. has been the hardest hit country with more than 787,000 infections and more than 42,000 deaths.
The true figures are believed to be much higher, in part because of limited testing and difficulties in counting the dead.
There have been encouraging signs in places like New York state, where hospitalizations have levelled off. Monday’s death toll, at 478, was the lowest in three weeks, down from a peak of nearly 800.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, warned on ABC: “Unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen.”
Source: Read Full Article