Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean
The regional director of World Health Organization has outlined his agency’s latest COVID-19 advice to countries which have relaxed restrictions, stressing that a mix of social distancing, testing, contact tracing and isolation will be crucial to curb the spread and prevent a second wave.
“Easing of lockdowns does not mean easing of the response or easing of social responsibilities,” said Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, while speaking at a virtual press conference held to provide latest updates on the COVID - 19 pandemic , yesterday.
“Governments must aggressively scale up the proven public health measures that we know control the spread of the virus — detection, testing, isolation, treatment and contact tracing — now more than ever before. As airports and border crossing open gradually, governments must continue to apply precautionary measures by enhancing surveillance at points of entries,” said Dr. Al Mandhari.
“Individuals leaving their homes for the first time in months must be more cautious and vigilant, and adopt protection measures recommended by the health authorities. Every decision made by a single person affects us all collectively and can have irreparable consequences,” he added.
Al Mandhari, was joined by Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, Head of the Infectious Hazard Management Programme and Dr. Rana Hajjeh, Director of Programme Management at the WHO Regional Office. They also emphasized on updated advice by WHO on protective practices with restrictions and other measures being lifted and other information. “It is very important to limit the spread of the virus after lifting the restrictions,” said Dr. Abubakar.
Therefore he emphasized that behavioral change, community commitment and contact tracing is critical in preventing the spread of COVID-19. He also highlighted on ‘Solidarity’ an international clinical trial launched to help find an effective treatment for COVID-19, by the WHO and partners.
According to Dr. Abubakar, the Solidarity Trial will compare four treatment options against standard of care, to assess their relative effectiveness against COVID-19. By enrolling patients in multiple countries, the Solidarity Trial aims to rapidly discover whether any of the drugs slow disease progression or improve survival.
Other drugs can be added based on emerging evidence. He also said that until there is sufficient evidence, WHO cautions against physicians and medical associations recommending or administering these unproven treatments to patients with COVID-19 or people selfmedicating with them.
In reply to a question about reports of a new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic has been identified in China by scientists, Dr. Abubakar said, “So far WHO has reviewed 50,000 genome sequences in which the member states have shared. So far, as of today, there is no evidence that any of the mutation that has been observed on the coronavirus have affected the virus transmissibility and also the disease in the human. So far there is no evidence for any mutation that has been observed in the virus.”
