The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness, a warning that comes as Governments across the world started rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again.
“This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future,” said Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
He said Governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus and the lifting of lockdown curbs and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.
Despite concerns from health officials, some US States on Monday announced aggressive reopening plans, while Boeing and at least one other US heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production.
Elsewhere around the world, step-by-step reopenings were underway in Europe, where the crisis has begun to ebb in places such as Italy, Spain and Germany.
Australia said Tuesday that it will allow the resumption of non-urgent surgeries from next week as health authorities grow more confident that hospitals there won’t be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
The reopenings come as politicians grow weary of soaring unemployment numbers and the prospect of economic depression. Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Tuesday after US oil futures plunged below zero because of a worldwide glut as factories, automobiles and airplanes sit idled.
The cost to have a barrel of US crude delivered in May plummeted to negative USD 37.63 as traders run out of places to store it. It was at roughly USD 60 at the start of the year.
