As World Awaits Covid-19 Lockdown To End, WHO Says Lifting It Will Lead To A Deadly Resurgence
A large section of Indians are?waiting for April 14, the day when the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end so that they can go back to their normal lives.This is almost the same situation the rest of the world is also going through due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.?
People who have been locked up inside their homes for weeks are desperate to go out and the heads of states and the world of business want to kickstart the economy which has taken a nosedive to be back on track.?
As several countries including the US, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and others are seriously considering some sort of relaxation to the lockdown by the end of this month the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded a stern warning against lifting restrictions too soon, saying it could lead to a deadly resurgence of Covid-19.?
"In the past week, we've seen a welcome slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, like Spain, Italy, Germany and France," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a regular press briefing on Friday.As "some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions," the WHO chief warned that "lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence.""The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly," he said, underlining that the WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.?
Around the world, there are nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,00,000 deaths.?
As far as India is concerned, the 21 days nationwide lockdown which was announced to reduce the spread has not yielded much result and in the same time period, the numbers have risen exponentially.?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to discuss the issue with state chief ministers later in the day. Several states have already suggested that the lockdown should be extended at least till the end of this month.Punjab and Odisha have already announced the extension of the lockdown in their states till May 1 and April 30, respectively.?
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry on Friday issued an addendum and exempted operations of fishing (marine) and aquaculture industry including feeding and maintenance, harvesting, processing, packaging, cold chain, sale and marketing from the lockdown restrictions.It also exempted hatcheries, feed plants, commercial aquaria, movement of fish/ shrimp and fish products, fish seed/feed and workers for all these activities.
