Lockdown Not Enough, WHO Cautions 'Find, Isolate, Test, Treat' To Combat Spread Of COVID-19

Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday said that a lockdown will not be sufficient to ward off the COVID-19 pandemic globally. This statement comes after several countries imposed nationwide lockdowns to tackle the spread and impact of COVID-19.

"To slow the spread of #COVID-19, many countries introduced "lockdown" measures. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics. We call on all countries to use this time to attack the novel coronavirus. You have created a second window of opportunity," Tedros said.

He said that asking people to stay inside their homes and prohibiting population movement is just buying time and slashing the pressure on health care sector. However, the epidemic will not extinguish with these measures.

Tedors said: "We call on all countries who have introduced so-called lockdown measures, to use this time to attack the virus. You have created a second window of opportunity, the question is how will you use it?"

While stressing on the measures of testing and curing, Tedros said: "Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace is not only the best and fastest way out of extreme social and economic restrictions, but they're also the best way to prevent them."

As per the recent WHO report, the total number of people infected with the novel coronavirus across the world has surpassed 4,14,179 over 18,440 have succumbed to the virus.

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