Europe could be threatened by the third wave of the spread of the coronavirus if countries do not create the necessary infrastructure to fight the infection. This was stated by David Nabarro, Special Envoy of the World Health Organization (WHO) on COVID-19 in an interview Solothurner Zeitung.
“The European response [to the pandemic] has been insufficient. They failed to build the necessary infrastructure during the summer months after they took control of the first wave. And now you have a second wave. If they don't build infrastructure now, they will have a third wave early next year, ”Nabarro warned.
He stressed that his colleagues from WHO are constantly forced to repeat that there is no alternative, except for the implementation of the described strategy. According to Nabarro, it is necessary at the local level in each country to organize a process for identifying infected people, as well as to interrupt the chains of infected and contain local outbreaks of the virus.
“The challenge for many Western European countries is to bring the virus back under control without resorting to isolation. Because it is an extremely crude instrument. You pay a high price for this, ”explained the WHO special envoy.
According to the WHO, more new cases of infection are registered in Europe than in other regions. So, over the past week, European countries accounted for 46% of new cases of coronavirus infection and 49% of new deaths. At the same time, the increase in the incidence in the region fell by 10% over the week due to quarantine measures, the WHO reported.
Nabarro gave an example of the fight against coronavirus in Asia. According to him, people there take necessary precautions, including wearing masks and keeping distance. He explained that a clear dialogue has been established between the authorities and citizens there, in addition, there is no choice between health and the economy. “It is always said [in Asian countries] that good health is essential for economic recovery. There is no "or or", there is only "both and", - noted Nabarro.
In addition, the East Asian strategy is characterized by continued tough measures even as the number of cases declined. The authorities are in no hurry to relax measures and are waiting until the number of cases becomes stably low, the expert explained.
On Friday, November 20, the Ministry of Health of South Korea announced that the third wave of the spread of coronavirus began in the Seoul metropolitan area. “We believe that the third wave of the spread of infection in the capital region is currently underway. Previously, such outbreaks were observed in February-March and August, ”said the representative of the Ministry of Health Yun Tae Ho.
