WHO issues wake up call on covid-19: “The data is not lying”

The World Health Organization’s emergencies director Michael Ryan issued a wake up call at a briefing  for journalists in Geneva on Friday. “If countries proceed with opening up without the capacity to cope with the likely caseload, then you end up in a worst-case scenario… more people will die.” He added: Although governments face stark choices, “it is never too late in an epidemic to take control.”  Instead of placing an entire nation under lockdown, Ryan advised loosening restrictions in “areas with lower transmission and still containing the outbreak through physical distancing, hand washing, testing, isolating cases and contact tracing.” But in areas where the virus is spreading uncontrollably, “strict measures could be unavoidable,” Ryan said. The coronavirus has hit more than 11 million people and killed 521,000 worldwide. The Americas are the hardest-hit region, with most cases and deaths registered in the United States, and numbers skyrocketing in a several countries in Latin America.