The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the risk of returning to coronavirus lockdowns remains ‘very real’ if countries don’t manage their transitions extremely carefully.

“Government-ordered lockdowns have become increasingly unpopular as countries suffer rising unemployment and economic activity grinds to a halt,” report John Revill and Emma Farge at Reuters:

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries needed to ensure they had adequate measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory disease like tracking systems and quarantine provision.

“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 at a virtual briefing in Geneva.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove supported his concerns about the disease which has infected 3.71 million globally and killed more than 258,000 people, according to a Reuters tally.

“If lockdown measures are lifted too quickly, the virus can take off,” Van Kerkhove told the briefing.

READ MORE: WHO warns against rushed end to coronavirus lockdowns

World Health Organization chief @drtedros warned that the risk of returning to lockdown remains ‘very real’ if countries don’t manage the transition from restrictions extremely carefully https://t.co/EOolL869o4 pic.twitter.com/KDKvHrH7rA

 Reuters (@Reuters) May 6, 2020

Testing, identifying who has the virus, & finding all cases — this will enable countries to control & suppress the #COVID19 pandemic (which is why @DrTedros has said for months, “test, test, test.”) https://t.co/Ck9Y2uQfmf

 Gabby Stern (@gabbystern) May 6, 2020

Pls look at the date on this speech by @DrTedros https://t.co/poVX0ak622

Read the rest

https://boingboing.net/2020/05/06/who-chief-risk-of-returning-t.html