Europe should learn from Asia's lead on virus controls, says WHO

Mike Ryan says Europe and North America should follow Asia's lead. /Martial Trezzini/Keystone/AFP

Europe and North America should keep persevering with anti-COVID-19 measures and follow the example of Asian countries, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Mike Ryan has said.

Anyone who comes into contact with infected people needs to go into quarantine, was the message from Ryan, who heads up WHO's health emergencies program.

The European region, which includes Russia, has recorded up to 8,500 deaths in the past week – and half the countries have reported a 50 percent rise in cases, according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, over recent months, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea have reduced the spread using the tactic of detecting cases, isolating them and quarantining contacts.

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Ryan said those countries' populations had shown "higher levels of trust" in their governments, which had implemented measures for longer than their European counterparts.

"In other words, they ran through the finish line and beyond and they kept running, because they knew the race wasn't over, that finish line was false. Too many countries have put an imaginary finishing line and when they cross this they may have decelerated some of their activities," Ryan said.

"The countries in Asia, south Asia, the Western Pacific that have been successful to my mind have really continued to follow through on those key activities."

Kim Sledge, left, of the band Sister Sledge is donating money to the WHO. /Dave J Hogan/Getty

Meanwhile, Kim Sledge of the pop band Sister Sledge, has said the group will donate proceeds from a special version of the hit song We Are Family to the WHO, the agency said.

Sledge said that the song's message held personal meaning during the pandemic: "Because I have two members of my family, my husband and my daughter, who are physicians, who are on the front line."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged authorities to persevere in the fight against the virus that has infected 40 million and killed more than one million, according to the latest Reuters tally.

"I know there's fatigue but the virus has shown that when we let our guard down, it can surge back at breakneck speed and threaten hospitals and health systems," he said.

Source(s): Reuters