A World Health Organization Director for Europe has warned Europe to brace for a second wave of the Coronavirus as countries begin to relax their Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Countries such as UK, France, Italy and Spain have moved to ease the lockdown restrictions due to a decline in number of cases, however, numbers further east in Russian, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have started rising.
Dr Hans Kluge who made his observation while speaking to The Telegraph, noted that falling numbers in the west does not mean the pandemic is over and now is the “time for preparation, not celebration”.
He said countries should start to prepare for further waves by strengthening their public health systems and building capacity in hospitals, primary care and intensive care units.
“Singapore and Japan understood early on that this is not a time for celebration, it’s a time for preparation,” Dr Kluge told the newspaper.
Dr Kluge also warned that a second wave in winter could coincide with other infectious diseases breaking out including flu and measles
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Christ Whitty is among a raft of global experts, who have said a second wave could be deadlier – referencing the 1918-1920 Spanish flu pandemic which came in four waves.
