The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has exposed in his last press conference that people who have been infected with the new coronavirus, whose disease is known as COVID-19 and who have stopped having symptoms can still continue to spread the virus to others for two weeks. Hence, he has asked that they not receive visits until another fifteen days have passed after they have stopped presenting symptoms and are considered cured. In addition, he has insisted on the importance of the act of frequent hand washing to minimize the risk of infection by the coronavirus, as “an act of solidarity.”
“As the coronavirus moves to low-income countries, we are deeply concerned about the impact this could have on populations with high HIV prevalence or malnourished children. We call on each country and individuals to do everything possible. to stop transmission “, explains the director of the WHO.
In the same way, the WHO also complains that some nations are not conducting enough tests for coronavirus that has already infected more than 182,400 people worldwide (at the time of writing this article) .
Tedros has raised concerns about the rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases over the past week, “but we have not seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response. “.
Tedros has recognized that, although the population most at risk of mortality from the new coronavirus are people over 60 years of age, young people, and even children, have died, hence it is crucial that countries do not forget to carry out all the detection tests for COVID-19 that are necessary.
“We have a simple message for all countries: tests, tests, tests. Test every suspected case. If they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in contact with for two days before they developed symptoms and also test those people, “he said.
And, in case of contagion, stay at home and not go to health centers to avoid a new transmission of the virus and receive adequate medical attention.
While it is true that the OM S director did not point to any specific country , US state and local leaders have harshly criticized the Trump administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for delaying and limit who could be tested in this country.
“For any country, one of the most important things is political commitment at the highest level ,” Tedros said. “All countries should be able to assess all suspected cases. They cannot fight this pandemic blindfolded; they should know where the cases are. “
In other countries like Korea, where the virus spread rapidly last month, health officials implemented an aggressive testing regimen that processed tests for more than 259,000 people and confirmed more than 8,000 infections, according to the Korean CDC.
