WHO chief: Even intense COVID-19 outbreaks can be brought under control

Italy, Spain, South Korea and India are an example for countries where the outbreak of the virus was intense, yet they still managed to contain it.

Newly elected Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (photo credit: REUTERS)
Newly elected Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland
(photo credit: REUTERS)
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said on Friday that even the most intense cases of COVID-19 outbreaks around the world can still be brought back under control.
Ghebreyesu gave Italy, Spain, South Korea and India as examples for countries where the outbreak of the virus was intense, they still managed to overcome the challenge, and through aggressive action, contain it.
"There are many, many examples from around the world," Ghebreyesu said, adding that even if a coronavirus outbreak is "very intense, it can still be brought back under control."
On Saturday morning there were reportedly 12,286,264 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 555,642 deaths worldwide, according to the WHO.
The US set a record for new COVID cases third day in a row on Friday, having over 69,000 new cases, according to a Reuters tally, with a total of over 3 million confirmed cases.
Israel hit a record for the most people diagnosed with coronavirus in a single day, the Health Ministry reported Friday morning.
On Thursday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel had opened its economy too quickly after the first wave of the virus.
“Looking back, as part of trial and error, it can be said that this last step was premature,” the prime minister said. “Many urged us to do it, to open up the economy unhindered. This has not stopped these same people from asking us today, ‘Why did you open this way?’”
He said that Israel opened up “because we listened to your hardships and wanted to put as many of you back into the workforce as possible.”
Reuters contributed to this article