WHO supports easing lockdown restrictions globally

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported opening up the economy and easing lockdown restrictions.

“We want to see children return to school and people to work, and we want to see it happen safely,” said WHO head Tedros Adhanom. “No country can eradicate corona, in fact, the virus spreads easily,” he said. 

“If we want to open up the economy, we have to take care of people’s lives,” he said. The coronavirus epidemic has severely affected economic performance around the world, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calling it the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The coronavirus has hit every country’s economy hard, and the IMF fears that 170 countries will lose their per capita income this year. The global pandemic caused a sharp drop in oil demand as the coronavirus lockdown reduced fuel demand for transportation.

The coronavirus also significantly reduced the remittances of most countries. Developing countries also face a shortage of money to send migrants home.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed concern that the coronavirus could cost the global economy 8 8.8 trillion. The coronavirus is expected to cost Asian countries 1.7 trillion.