The measures adopted to deal with the coronavirus are insufficient, according to the WHO: “We have a simple message for all countries”

Faced with the “major global health crisis of our time”, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for a “test for each suspected case” of coronavirus, WHO announced Monday in Geneva. Countries are not doing enough to trace and test every potential case of Covid-19 contamination, focusing more on measures to create social distance between citizens, Organization Head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticized on Monday. . “We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test,” said the head of WHO at a press conference in Geneva. There are now “more cases and deaths in the rest of the world than in China,” added the head of the organization during a press conference.

Although there has been a rapid escalation of measures including the closure of schools and the cancellation of events, efforts to date have been insufficient to increase testing, isolate new cases and trace their social contacts, denounced Mr. Tedros, calling these measures to be “the backbone of the response to Covid-19”.

Countries cannot fight the pandemic if they do not know who is infected and who is not, he warned. “You can’t fight a fire blindfolded.”

The WHO chief also stressed the risks of letting patients with mild symptoms of coronavirus go home, rather than being hospitalized or creating new medical facilities.

“Treating infected people at home can put other people in the household at risk,” said Tedros.

People caring for others at home should also wear masks and wash their hands after each contact with their patients. Caregivers should sleep in a separate room and use a separate bathroom, WHO also recommends.

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