Director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has noted that some pieces are missing in Spain's response to coronavirus. In a press conference this Monday on the global Covid-19 pandemic, he warned the Spanish government that the lockdown of the Spanish population is not being properly observed and stressed that the most important thing is to "break the chain of transmission" in order to defeat the coronavirus. Offering the mantra of "test, test and test" to emphasise the basic importance of locating cases of the virus, the WHO director reiterated the need for even the most mild cases to then be isolated and the chain of each patient's contacts traced. For that reason, he said regretfully that, despite the declaration of a state of alarm in Spain, "we have not seen urgent isolation, which is critical in stopping the epidemic."
"Spain has taken very courageous actions, I conveyed to prime minister Pedro Sánchez that I thought his commitment was very strong" but he reminded the Spanish authorities that in order to fight this virus "political commitment was not enough, there must be citizen cooperation", said Adhanom, in response to a question about crowded metro trains being seen in Madrid on Monday morning, days after the Spanish government had declared its state of alarm.
"This should be everybody's business", he emphasised.
Total isolation
In addition, the WHO director said that "isolating infected people in their homes implies the danger of spreading the virus to their families" and ensured that those infected should be completely isolated, even with the use of a bathroom that nobody else uses but the infected person.
Adhanom also said that he was "thrilled" by the spontaneous applause that had been given in Spain and other countries in recent days out of gratitude to health workers, the front line in the fight against the pandemic.