WHO has published new guidance on Surveillance strategies for COVID-19 human infection. The document provides an overview of surveillance strategies that Member States should consider as part of comprehensive national surveillance for COVID-19. It also emphasise the need to adapt and reinforce existing national systems where appropriate and to scale-up surveillance capacities as needed.
The Director-General Dr. Tedros in his media briefing yesterday, urged a slow, steady, lifting of public health and social measures (so called lockdowns), which is key to stimulating economies, while also keeping a vigilant eye on the virus so that control measures can be quickly implemented if an upswing in cases is identified.
WHO has published an annex to the guidance on considerations on adjusting public health and social measures (PHSM). The new annex provides a pragmatic decision process to help countries through adapting PHSM based on epidemiological and public health criteria.
Lesotho reported its first case of COVID-19. WHO has published an interim guidance document on Laboratory biosafety fortesting of clinical specimens of patients that meet the case definition of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, urged countries in the region to lift public health and social measures (so called lockdowns) in a graded manner and that Local epidemiology should guide focused action in ‘new normal’ COVID-19 world.