Lockdown not enough to eliminate coronavirus: WHO

As global cases of the coronavirus crossed 21,000 on Wednesday, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that a lockdown will not be enough to get rid of the deadly virus.

"To slow the spread of Covid-19, many countries introduced "lockdown" measures. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics. We call on all countries to use this time to attack the novel coronavirus. You have created a second window of opportunity," Ghebreyesus said in a press conference.

More than one-third of the countries around the world have imposed lockdowns and other restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

"Asking people to stay at home and shutting down population movement is buying time and reducing the pressure on health systems. But on their own, these measures will not extinguish epidemics," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added.

The WHO chief further said that this is the time to attack the virus. "We call on all countries who have introduced so-called lockdown measures, to use this time to attack the virus. You have created a second window of opportunity, the question is how will you use it?" he said.

"Aggressive measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace is not only the best and fastest way out of extreme social and economic restrictions, but they're also the best way to prevent them," he further added.

Meanwhile, the global count of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 470,973 (till March 26, 8:45 AM IST).

Italy is the most affected country with 7,503 deaths followed by Spain at 3,647.