WHO Chief Warns of Lifting Lockdown, Shares Risk Involved In It!

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in different parts of the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries against lifting lockdowns. They also said it was too quick to lift the lockdown as it could lead to a “deadly resurgence” of the coronavirus pandemic.

At a press briefing on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone. At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly."

Further in his briefing, the WHO chief gave a detailed report on how many countries have been witnessing slowdown and how many reporting less number of cases owing to the restrictions due the Covid-19 outbreak. 

“In the past week, we’ve seen a welcome slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, Spain, Italy, Germany and France,” Ghebreyesus added.

Further warning of an “alarming acceleration” of the virus highlighting Africa, the WHO chief said it was beginning to emerge in rural areas. "At the same time, we’ve seen an alarming acceleration in other countries. I want to take a moment to highlight Africa, where we are seeing the spread of the virus to rural areas. We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries. We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities,” he further sighted.

Currently in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with chief ministers of states to get their feedback on the extension of the 21-nation-wide lockdown which ends on April 14. Soon after the meeting, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through a tweet informed that Prime Minister Modi has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown. 

“PM has taken the correct decision to extend lockdown. Today, India’s position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is important to extend it,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Taking a look at the global cases and deaths, there are over 1.6 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 with deaths toll surpassing 1 lakh.