First pandemic wave not over, warns WHO
Alarm dampens hope of economic rebound, global travel
Bangkok, May 26: As Brazil and India struggle with surging Covid-19 cases, a top health expert is warning that the world is still smack in the middle of the pandemic, dampening hopes for a speedy global economic rebound and renewed international travel.
“Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first wave globally,” said Dr Mike Ryan, the World Health Organisation’s executive director. “We’re still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up,” Ryan told reporters, pointing to South America, South Asia and other areas where infections are still on the rise.
WHO poured cold water on the hopes of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and others of quickly reopening the economy, warning that authorities must first have enough testing in place to control the spread of the pandemic. Brazil has 376,000 Covid-19 infections — second only to the 17 lakh cases in the US — and has counted over 23,000 deaths but many fear Brazil’s true toll is much higher.
Ryan said Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates means it should keep some stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of the negative impacts on its economy. “You must continue to do everything you can,” he said. But Sao Paulo Gov João Doria has
ruled out a full lockdown in Brazil’s largest state economy and plans to start loosening restrictions on June 1.
In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop, designated religious institutions as “essential services” so they could stay open with social distancing rules despite recommendations for people to stay at home and most businesses remaining shut. A US travel ban was taking effect Tuesday for foreigners coming from Brazil, moved up two days earlier than its original date. It does not apply to US citizens.
In Europe, the Russian government reported a record daily spike Tuesday of 174 deaths, bringing the country’s confirmed death toll to 3,807. Russia’s Covid-19 caseload surpassed 360,000 — the third highest in the world — with almost 9,000 new infections registered. The country’s comparatively low mortality rate has raised questions among experts both in Russia and in the West.
Russian officials, however, vehemently deny manipulating any figures and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the country’s lockdown measures. The question of who can travel where and when remains a dilemma that officials still have yet to solve.
Spain’s foreign minister said Tuesday that European Union members should commonly agree to open borders and jointly determine which non-EU countries are designated as safe for travel.
Arancha González Laya told Cadena SER radio that resuming cross-border travel should be decided collectively even if countries in the 27-nation bloc are phasing out lockdowns at different dates. “We have to start working with our European partners to retake the freedom of movement in European territories,” she said. The minister said Spain is eager to welcome tourists to shore up an industry that accounts for 12 per cent of the country’s GDP but plans to do it with “health, sustainability and safety”.
South Korea on Tuesday began requiring people to wear masks on public transit and in taxis.