As countries around the world into lockdowns, the World Health Organization’s Director-General has warned that this is not enough to battle the outbreak of COVID-19.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his daily briefing on Wednesday that lockdowns create a “second window of opportunity” and that governments must take advantage of this to eradicate the virus.
"To slow the spread of COVID-19, many countries introduced "lockdown" measures. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics. We call on all countries to use this time to attack the coronavirus. You have created a 2nd window of opportunity," said Ghebreyesus.
"Asking people to stay at home and shutting down population movement is buying time and reducing the pressure on health systems. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics," he added.
"We call on all countries who have introduced so-called lockdown measures, to use this time to attack the virus. You have created a 2nd window of opportunity, the question is how will you use it?" he said.
"Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace is not only the best and fastest way out of extreme social and economic restrictions, but they're also the best way to prevent them," the WHO chief emphasised.
The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide has exceeded 4 Lakhs with over 21,000 deaths.
