Coronavirus digest: WHO hopes for end to pandemic within two years

The World Health Organization is hopeful the pandemic will be over “in less than two years,” the UN health body’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said.

Tedros told reporters that the pandemic should be under control in less time than it took to deal with the Spanish flu of 1918. This could be achieved by “utilizing the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccines,” Tedros said.

Compared to 1918, the world today is at a disadvantage due to its “globalization, closeness, connectedness,” which has undermined efforts at controlling the virus, Tedros acknowledged. But nowadays the world has the benefit of far better technology, he said.

Europe

Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder is seeking Germany-wide fines for those violating face mask rules. Söder has also called for a more consistent approach to regulations regarding the wearing of masks across the country.

Brussels has been added to Germany’s list of “high risk” places to visit. The travel warning means visitors to the Belgian capital have to take a coronavirus test upon their return to Germany and must enter quarantine until testing negative.

Those areas in blue are the regions or countries Germany’s Robert Koch Institute has deemed high risk

French schoolchildren over the age of 11 will be required to wear face masks when they return to school in just over a week, the country’s education minister has announced.

Spain has reported its highest number of infections for a 24-hour period since May. The Iberian nation’s Health Ministry said 3,650 cases had been registered in the last 24 hours.

Read more:’We are not afraid’: Young partygoers defy coronavirus rules for Berlin nightlife

Africa

South Africa has recorded over 600,000 infections, the Health Ministry has announced, although the number of new cases has been falling in Africa’s hardest-hit country since peaking in July.

Tunisian authorities have reinstated a curfew in El Hamma after a surge in COVID-19 cases, the mayor said, as rail links servicing the town were brought to a halt. The curfew in El Hamma, home to some 100,000 people, will be imposed daily from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. for one week.

Read more: Coronavirus trend: The pandemic is far from over

Americas

The transmission of the virus is stabilizing in Brazil and any reversal of its spread in the country would be viewed as “a success for the world,” the WHO has said. The organization’s emergencies director, Michael Ryan, added there was a “clear downward trend in many parts of Brazil.”

Arizona, in the United States, has reported a 20% increase in fatalities during the first seven months of 2020. Public health experts in the state said not all of the deaths were directly linked to COVID-19, but that some may be from overdoses and suicides by those struggling with isolation or unemployment during lockdown.

Asia

Hong Kong will offer free coronavirus tests to its citizens as of September 1 as it grapples with its worst outbreak since the pandemic emerged in the region, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced.

jsi/nm (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-who-hopes-for-end-to-pandemic-within-two-years/a-54653677?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf