On Friday, the World Health Organization announced that countries will need to slowly lift lockdowns while still “on the look-out” for COVID-19 and be prepared to re-impose restrictions if the virus bounces back.
Vulnerable individuals in institutions, particularly those in long-term care centers, prisons, and dormitories for refugees, need to be protected, Dr. Mike Ryan, the leading emergency expert.
Even if the virus comes under control, citizens will need to continue to be aware of social distancing and hygiene measures, and the testing of suspected infected individuals must continue, he added.
Ryan told a news conference:
“It’s really important that as countries ease those measures that they are constantly on the look out for a jump in infections and in particular are dealing with transmission in special settings,”
The virus has since circulated in facilities for the elderly in Europe and North America, while also affecting migrant workers in dormitories in Singapore, he noted.
Ryan also said, “for social, psychological and economic reasons,” the WHO acknowledges government’s difficulties in maintaining lockdowns during the pandemic.
Even as some Western countries continue to relax lockdowns, there are alarming signs of a new spike in infections.
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