Coronavirus pandemic

No quick return to way things were before, says WHO official

The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday advised Asia-Pacific countries to prepare for a "new normal" as they plan ahead and lift lockdowns put in place to check the spread of the coronavirus.

There will be no quick return to how things were, Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, said in an online news conference.

"We need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future... At least until a vaccine, or a very effective treatment, is found, this process will need to become our new normal," he said.

There are over 130,000 cases in 22 countries and territories in the region, he added.

Lockdowns with strict stay-at-home and social distancing measures imposed on billions of people in Asia have been effective, said Dr Kasai. Some countries have slowed the doubling time of infections, while others have kept numbers down or under control.

"Today, we appear to have no widespread community transmissions in the region," he said. But lifting lockdowns must be gradual. "I'm sure nobody wants to see another spike (in infections) by lifting restrictions too soon."

Dr Kasai said this would entail a new way of living. He cited nations such as Singapore and Japan, which are seeing new waves of infections after managing to control the spread early on. Singapore's experience showed countries had to cover every corner of their borders in their efforts to combat the virus and pay close attention to vulnerable sectors like migrant workers.

Singapore yesterday extended its circuit breaker measures to June 1, after reporting 1,111 new cases, pushing its total to 9,125, from just 200 on March 15.

"Singapore has a very strong system. It's a very challenging situation. But I'm sure control measures would eventually bring this difficult situation under control," said Dr Kasai, adding that Singapore and other nations in the region would have to make "extremely complex decisions" to strike a balance between measures to contain the pandemic and enabling vital parts of economies to function again.

"On the one hand, we really want to control this disease. But on the other hand, we want to make sure economies are sustained," he said.

Companies would have to come up with new ways to keep going while keeping their workplaces safe, such as making work-from-home arrangements a permanent part of their operations.

Social distancing and avoiding going out in public as much as possible would have to be the norm for an extended period of time.

"We look forward to the day when we can once again hug our friends or go to birthday parties... But for now, we appeal to people… to play their part in building a new way of life… It's not really the right time to relax," he said.

Dr Kasai also warned that the pandemic must not disrupt vaccination programmes against other diseases such as polio, measles and rubella.

"If we allow Covid-19 to disrupt immunisation programmes, our region could face a new crisis at a time when health systems are already strained," he warned.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 22, 2020, with the headline No quick return to way things were before, says WHO official. Subscribe