{"id":54892,"date":"2020-03-26T09:53:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T14:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54892"},"modified":"2020-03-26T09:53:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T14:53:59","slug":"countries-should-stop-wasting-time-and-fight-virus-who-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54892","title":{"rendered":"Countries should stop wasting time and fight virus, WHO says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Thomas Mulier, Corinne Gretler and Naomi Kresge <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tribune News Service<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Governments should stop wasting precious time needed to fight the coronavirus after squandering an opportunity to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization&#8217;s head said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We squandered the first window of opportunity,&#8221; said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. &#8220;The time to act was actually more than a month ago or two months ago.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The WHO chief gave a rare, blunt admonishment Wednesday on the world&#8217;s progress against the disease, which has killed almost 20,000 people and is present in almost every country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency generally avoids public criticism of its member states, Mike Ryan, the head of its emergencies program, has said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The world has a second chance, as 150 countries have fewer than 100 reported cases and still have time to prepare, Tedros said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those that have ordered lockdowns have won themselves time to implement aggressive measures to stamp out the disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How long lockdowns must last depends on what actions countries take during them to ensure the disease is eradicated, Tedros said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While such strict regimes impose harsh social and economic costs, &#8220;the last thing any country needs is to reopen schools and businesses only to close them again because of a resurgence in cases,&#8221; Tedros said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He gave a list of six actions every country should take:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Expand, train and deploy health care workers.<\/li><li>Implement systems to find suspected cases.<\/li><li>Ramp up production of tests and increase availability.<\/li><li>Identify facilities that can be transformed into coronavirus health centers.<\/li><li>Develop plans to quarantine cases.<\/li><li>Refocus government on suppressing the virus.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The world is not ready for a pandemic,&#8221; Ryan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, breaks in the supply chain could threaten supplies of medical gloves, which are made from rubber that&#8217;s sourced from only a few countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health care workers are facing shortages of protective gear across the world, said Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist at WHO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People who aren&#8217;t sick don&#8217;t need masks, she has said, and doctors shouldn&#8217;t be deprived of them because of the way a country uses them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This is not acceptable,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Protecting our health care workers must be the top priority.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If there&#8217;s any lesson from this pandemic, it&#8217;s that we need stronger public health systems&#8221; on a national and global level, Ryan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Thomas Mulier, Corinne Gretler and Naomi Kresge Tribune News Service Governments should stop wasting precious time needed to fight the coronavirus after squandering an&hellip; 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