WHO says world needs to fight virus now

The World Health Organization's emergencies chief said on Friday "we need to put up a fight now" during a peak in the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic, rather than focusing on when a second wave might come.

Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Michael Ryan said the best possible effort needs to be made to suppress transmission of the virus.

"If we have to fight a second wave, we will be much better at fighting a second wave of this disease if we can at least learn the lessons of fighting the first wave," he said.

According to Dr Ryan, the world is experiencing a second peak in the first wave, a situation in which the virus hasn't been suppressed enough to quell transmission to end the first one.

"If we throw up every white flag and we walk away from the fight now in the middle of the first wave, how can we actually be taken seriously by our own citizens for worrying about a second wave?" he told reporters in Geneva.

WHO officials emphasized mask-wearing, social distancing, and hygiene by individuals, along with contact-tracing and tracking of cases by health authorities are among key strategies to fight the outbreak.

They say governments and individuals should shape their policies and behaviour based on the outbreak's status in their countries.