WHO: Risk of returning to lockdown ‘very real’ if countries don’t manage coronavirus transitions carefully

[CDC]

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.

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