COVID-19 pandemic ‘far from over’ in Asia-Pacific

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - The coronavirus pandemic is “far from over” in the Asia-Pacific region, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said.

"The [COVID-19] epidemic is far from over in Asia and the Pacific. This is going to be a long-term battle and we cannot let down our guard," Takeshi Kasai, Philippines-based WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said at a virtual news conference on Tuesday.

“We need every country to keep responding to according to their local situation,” Kasai added.

“We recognize that there is no one-size fits all approach to preparing for and responding to an emergency like this,” the official maintained.

He, however, said that there were “common tactics” in Asia-Pacific countries hit by COVID-19.

“Finding, isolating, and testing case early; tracing, and quarantining contact quickly and putting in place multiple public health interventions to increase physical distance between people to slow and stop [coronavirus] transmissions,” Kasai said listing the common tactics.

However, he emphasized that even after taking such measures “the risk will not go away”.

“Rather, these measures can buy us valuable time to prepare or large-scale community transmissions,” he added.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 180 countries and regions, indicates the Johns Hopkins University database.

The data shows the confirmed number of cases worldwide has surpassed 873,700, with the death toll over 43,200, and more than 184,700 recoveries.