While Guyana’s curfew has been extended to June 3, other nations are hoping to reopen its economy at a sooner date. However, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials say that reopening in many places is too soon.
Any untimely attempt to restart economies could trigger secondary peaks in COVID-19 cases.
Executive director of WHO’s emergencies program Dr. Mike Ryan stressed the importance of having a well-informed and committed population prior to any reopening. “You can’t replace lockdown with nothing…We are going to have to change our behaviors for the foreseeable future,” he warned.
According to WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, governments that want to start lifting restrictions must first meet six conditions:
1. Disease transmission is under control
2. Health systems are able to “detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
3. Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes
4. Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
5. The risk of importing new cases “can be managed”
6. Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal
Globally the WHO had reported more than 3M confirmed cases with over 200,000 deaths. In the Region of the Americas, the number of confirmed cases is over 1.4M with 77,000 plus deaths.
