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Europe is again the global epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, but steps can be taken to avoid resorting to imprisonment again, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said Monday.
“Europe is once again the epicenter of the disease, but we can still reverse this trend,” said Mike Ryan, WHO director for health emergencies, who called for “more sacrifices” and to follow the example of countries that have succeeded in further preventing covid-19 waves.
WHO technical director for covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, added that experts “still hope that new national borders are not needed”, such as those implemented in the spring in the Northern Hemisphere and that chains of control could be check. broadcast with other tools such as contact tracking.
“The countries of Europe have managed to control the disease in the spring and summer, they can do it again and they will do it”, said the American specialist, who stressed that the mass confinement of populations can be avoided “. part and make individual sacrifices “.
Such sacrifices, he stressed, range from avoiding crowded places to postponing large meetings, “difficult decisions that must be made to reduce exposure”.
Maria Van Kerkhove also said that “everything must be done to keep schools open” after the first wave of the pandemic forced schools to close for several months.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization “understands the physical and mental fatigue” that the pandemic is causing in some societies that had to work harder at home, were unable to organize large celebrations. in large numbers. part of the year or you didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to loved ones who died.
“Fatigue is real, but we must not give up,” he stressed, calling on political leaders to do everything possible to protect health workers and prevent hospitals and ICUs from reaching the limit of their capacities.
“It is dangerous to give up control” of the pandemic, he stressed, contrary to the statements of the chief of staff of the American president, Mark Meadows, who said that the only way to overcome the pandemic is through mitigation measures, such as a vaccine or a treatment.
“We must not give up and that is why we say that if we agree with the cabinet chief that protecting the most vulnerable is important, giving up control [da pandemia] it’s dangerous, “Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the regular WHO press conference.
Regarding the strategy announced by the United States, based on mitigation and not on disease control, WHO emergency health officer Mike Ryan complained that “there are still people who do not take measures against covid-19. because they don’t believe in the disease. or in the pandemic “and called for persuasive measures to combat this attitude.
“Mitigation is important, but we can’t focus entirely on that. The United States had a lot of trouble in March and April, when they focused on that strategy while their emergency departments were saturated,” the expert warned. WHO.p>
Mike Ryan also insisted on the need to think about people most vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly or other patients, and assured that “the best way to protect them is to do everything possible to reduce the transmission of covid-19 in the community”.
“We cannot abandon the goal of suppressing and controlling transmission. It is now difficult in the United States and Europe, but if every person does what is necessary to reduce their exposure to the virus, there can be significant progress,” he concluded. .
According to a report by the French agency AFP, the covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than 1.1 million deaths and more than 43 million cases of infection worldwide.p>
In Portugal, 2,343 people have died from 121,133 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest bulletin of the Directorate General of Health.p>
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.
After Europe took over from China as the center of the pandemic in February, the American continent is now the one with the most confirmed cases and the highest number of deaths.
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