The Director of Public Health of the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Neira, said on Monday that the models they work with are “increasingly” ruling out a second major wave of coronavirus.
However, Neira called for “a lot of prudence” and “common sense” at this “very critical” phase of the pandemic, that of the de-escalate, in statements to the Barcelona radio station RAC-1.
The WHO directive called for the population to have “neither paranoia nor excessive relaxation”, and that they “learn to live with infectious diseases”.
“There are many models that advance a lot of probabilities. They talk from a one-off flare to an important wave, but the latter possibility is increasingly being ruled out. We are much better prepared in all areas,” she said.
According to Neira, “we have so lowered the rate of transmission that the virus will struggle to survive. We must be very cautious in asserting whether this is the end of the wave, but the data at least show us that the transmission and explosion of the first few weeks has been avoided.”
However, he noted that “it is worth not making many forecasts because the coming weeks are a very critical phase.”
“With the opening you have to see how the virus behaves. We hope there will be no other outbreaks, but it will be a day-to-day battle. In two or three weeks we will see what has happened and if it is necessary to correct it surgically”, indicated on the phase 1 descaling that spain has entered.
This country, like other European neighbours, began the de-escalation of restrictions on movement, after weeks of confinement to prevent the virus from spreading.
Neira acknowledged that WHO still has “certain doubts about the virus’s relationship to the climate,” although they are seeing that it is “making the expected geographical path of a virus that wants to survive.”
“Immunity figures are very low. We must be very vigilant in the de-escalate,” the specialist warned again, and admitted that “Brazil is already the second country with the most cases.”
