‘Don’t make schools political football’
GENEVA, Switzerland (UNNews) — A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official yesterday called for the question of school reopening to be included as part of comprehensive, data-driven COVID-19 public health strategies, and not a politically-driven decision-making process.
Responding to questions from reporters at the regular WHO press briefing in Geneva, Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said, “We can’t play Whack-a-mole. We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time”.
The senior official said that the topic of school reopenings has become a “political football”, which is not fair to children. “Decisions must be made on data, and an understanding of the risks. There needs to be a sustained commitment on suppressing the virus. If we can suppress it, then, schools can open safely,” he said.
In his press statement, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, also called for coherent, data-driven strategies that avoid the need to constantly switch from lockdown to reopening, and control the spread of the virus.
Tedros warned that there will be “no return to the ‘old normal’ for the foreseeable future”, but that it is possible for countries to suppress the pandemic, allowing people to get on with their lives, as long as governments focus on reducing mortality and transmission; empower communities to take appropriate action; and show leadership.
The WHO chief said that national responses to the virus, have fallen into four different categories. The first comprises countries that responded rapidly to the initial cases, were “alert and aware”, communicated effectively to their citizens, and avoided large outbreaks, said the WHO chief. Examples of these countries can be found in the vast Mekong region of east Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa.
The second category of country, many of which are in Europe, initially saw major outbreaks, but managed to bring them under control, on a “data-driven, step-by-step basis, with a comprehensive public health approach, backed by a strong health workforce, and community buy-in”.
