WHO warns over virus immunity as global death toll tops 200,000
26 April, 2020
The global death toll in the novel coronavirus pandemic soared past the grim 200,000 milestone on Sunday, as the World Health Organization warned against "immunity passports" for recovered patients, regarded as a possible tool for countries getting ready to re-open their economies.
The WHO opposes such "passports" because recovery from the virus may not protect a person from reinfection.
"There happens to be no evidence that people who've recovered from #COVID19 and also have antibodies are protected from another infection," the UN health body said in a statement.
Meanwhile vast sums of Muslims around the world spent the second day of the Ramadan holy month out of mosques and avoiding large family meals to break the fast as a result of sequestration and social distancing policies.
And Australians and New Zealanders marked Anzac Day without the standard parades and public ceremonies to commemorate fallen soldiers. Instead, under social distancing policies, people held dawn vigils before their homes.
Even while governments from Sri Lanka to Belgium to the United States began moving in the direction of partial reopening, the COVID-19 pandemic still had practically half of humanity under some sort of lockdown or confinement.
Total cases all over the world rose to 2.86 million and deaths mounted at night 200,000 mark, doubling since April 10, according to an AFP tally.
Europe, the hardest-hit region, has recorded 122,171 coronavirus deaths.
THE UNITED STATES toll rose by 2,494 in the last 24 hours going to 53,511 deaths. The quantity of coronavirus cases in america jumped by almost 46,000 to 936,293 since Friday.
In Italy, the amount of COVID-19 fatalities rose to 26,384; Spain 22,902, France 22,614 and the United Kingdom 20,319.
Reinfection warning
The world remained in wait as companies and governments raced to build up treatments and, eventually, a vaccine for the virus, which first surfaced in China in late 2019.
The WHO warned on Saturday that people who test positive and survive infection can't be certain they will not be hit again by the coronavirus.
The warning came as some governments study measures such as for example "immunity passports" for many who have recovered as you way to get people back to work after weeks of monetary shutdown.
People holding such a "passport" may have a tendency to ignore public health advice, such as for example continuing to wear facemasks, assuming they aren't a danger to themselves or others, the WHO said.
That is clearly a particular worry as testing becomes more widespread, especially testing for coronavirus antibodies, whose occurrence indicate a person had previously contracted the virus and recovered.
"If I've already had corona then I'm not infectious," said Berlin resident Lothar Kopp, hoping to check positive for antibodies since it could allow him to go to his elderly mother.
Germany has completed tens of thousands of tests and other countries are also working on determining so-called levels of immunity.
Second round feared
Despite Saturday's grim milestone in virus fatalities, the daily toll in Western countries were leveling off and even falling, a sign hopeful epidemiologists had been looking for.
Likewise, new reported cases may actually have plateaued at about 80,000 a day.
However in many countries there have been worries of another surge after lockdown restrictions are eased, possibly also coinciding with a new flu season.
In hard-hit Iran, health officials Saturday raised fears of a "fresh outbreak" with another 76 fatalities declared, bringing the country's official death toll to 5,650.
Iran has steadily allowed the restarting of businesses which were closed to stop the virus spread. But Alireza Zali, a health coordinator for the capital, criticized "hasty reopenings" that could "create new waves of sickness in Tehran".
In Washington, the White House's top pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said this week that america will surely have a coronavirus problem in the fall, that could be complicated by the return of the seasonal flu toward year-end.
At the beach
However, the pressure from broken economies and citizens frustrated by stay-at-home orders had areas pushing to open up.
German police arrested a large number of protesters in Berlin on Saturday for flouting the coronavirus lockdown measures these were demonstrating against.
The governor of the united states state of Georgia rejected warnings from top disease authorities and allowed businesses like hair dressers, nail salons and bowling alleys to reopen.
On Saturday many Georgians embraced the go back to something resembling normalcy by flocking to the beach.
"It feels great -- like it's likely to feel," mother and housewife Rachel Lilly, 39, told AFP, barely lifting her head from her watermelon-themed towel as she relaxed under a cloudless sky on Tybee Island.
"I'm not concerned" about catching coronavirus, "given that it's not packed," she said.
"But if everyone does what we're doing, that's a problem."
In southern California thousands flouted policies to remain indoors and headed to beaches amid a heat wave.
On Friday, Belgium's Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced a staggered arrange for reopening businesses and schools in mid-May and restaurants beginning on June 8.
"The spread of COVID-19 has been slowed up, but the virus hasn't disappeared," she warned.
Italy, nearing the end of the world's longest active lockdown, announced plans Saturday to set price limits on face masks and crank up antibody testing.
Italians are awaiting a decision this weekend about which restrictions will be lifted. They will probably be permitted to leave their homes freely for the very first time since March 9 by early May.
Spaniards will be allowed out for exercise and take walks starting next weekend, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Saturday.
The government will on Tuesday unveil its broader coronavirus exit plan which will likely be apply in the second half of May, he said.
"If the pandemic keeps evolving positively since it has been doing as yet, from May 2, individual exercise will be permitted and walks with the people your home is with," he said.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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