WHO: Second wave of COVID-19 seems less likely.

Submitted by champswest on May 26th, 2020 at 10:26 AM

Sorry for not having a link. This appears on Reddit. Can be found by googling Dr. Maria Neira COVID-19 second wave.

 

The article is in Spanish so here's a rough translation:

WHO sees a second major wave of COVID-19 increasingly unlikely

The director of Public Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) , María Neira , said on Monday that the models they work with are "increasingly" ruling out a second wave of the coronavirus.

However, Neira has called for "great caution" and "common sense" in this "very critical" phase of the pandemic (de-escalation), and, in statements to RAC-1, has requested that the population should not be paranoid nor should they relax too much, but they should "learn to live with infectious diseases ".

“There are many models that predict many probabilities such as a punctual regrowth or a major wave, but this last possibility is increasingly being ruled out. We are much better prepared in all areas'', said the Spanish doctor.

According to Neira, “ we have lowered the transmission rate so much that the virus will have difficulty surviving . We must be very careful to say whether this is the end of the wave, but the data at least shows us that the transmission and explosion of the first weeks have been avoided''.

However, she pointed out that "it is worth not making many forecasts because the next few weeks are a very critical phase."

«With reopening you have to see how the virus behaves. We hope there will be no other outbreaks, but it will be a day-to-day battle. In two or three weeks we will see what has happened and if it is necessary to correct it surgically ”, she said about the de-escalation in phase 1 that all of Spain has entered.

Neira has acknowledged that the WHO still has "certain doubts about the relationship of the virus with the weather" , although they are seeing that "it is doing the geographical route expected of a virus that wants to survive".

lbpeley

May 26th, 2020 at 10:29 AM ^

I don't dismiss this out of hand. I also wait with bated breath for the usual hand wringers to storm in here to scream how wrong and stupid you are. 

BoFan

May 26th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^

How about middle ground.  The WHO’s statements seem to need interpretation.  
For example:

”we haven’t seen person to person transmission” must be interpreted as it doesn't meant it isn’t happening. 
 

So:

“We don’t see a second wave” could mean:

A: “in most countries where its under control”

B: “because you cant have a second wave if the first isn’t under control”

C: “check back again later”

/s

The WHO in general does some good scientific work and work in poor countries but their public statements are shit given they have to err on the positive until they have definitive evidence to prove otherwise. Eg:

- not a pandemic, yet

- no sign of person to person transmission, yet

- no need to wear a mask, yet

gmoney41

May 26th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^

Considering the WHO has been dead wrong so many times during this crisis, I won’t hold my breath that they are right here.  But I hope to god they are right. 

Soulfire21

May 26th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^

That's not what they tweeted out. They tweeted they have not seen clear evidence of human-to-human transmission. Saying it has not been observed is not the same as saying it cannot happen.

Six days later, on January 20th, they tweeted

It is now very clear from the latest information that there is at least some human-to-human transmission of #nCoV2019. Infections among health care workers strengthen the evidence for this.

That's not to say the WHO doesn't deserve criticism, of course, but the criticism must be accurate.

mgobaran

May 26th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^

wise re-opening seems good.  

I'm completely onboard with wise re-opening.

Just pointing out that when money is involved like it is in this situation, it's hard to trust what's being said as unbiased. FAKE NEWS goes both ways imo. 

 

gmoney41

May 26th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^

Well, I’m not concerned about a lot of the hot air that Trump emits, but my own research into the clown that runs the WHO Tedros, leaves me with a lot of questions in regards to the WHO as an organization, especially when people like “kill bill” gates have their disgusting mits all over the organization.  They, like Trump, are less than trustworthy 

ThePonyConquerer

May 26th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^

You know what else is less likely? Me asking out my crush who I didn't even 'like like' back in school but do now apparently because I've been remembering my school days fondly now these days and I apparently 'like like' her now. Like, I was more interested in a friend of hers than her herself back then.

Njia

May 26th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^

Social distancing works, as do common sense measures such as wearing face masks in public spaces, limiting crowds, etc. They are fundamental to controlling the spread of respiratory viruses, and I'm sure that's what the WHO is counting on.

GoBlueTal

May 26th, 2020 at 11:18 AM ^

We're one of the most stand-offish societies on the planet.  Humans are a social creature, can't change that.  

What we could affect is how skeptical we are, but that seems unlikely when we still have such high levels of judgmental self-righteousness.  You're a "progressive" Hatter, can't you make some progress on that?  A bit more open-mindedness, a bit less hubris - a bit more listening, can it really hurt us that badly?  I'm willing to bet we'd save more lives than we'd lose in the exchange.

GoBlueTal

May 26th, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^

Every society has self-righteous assholes full of hubris - it's part of humanity, and something we shouldn't tolerate quite so much as we do.

Americans are freer to express ourselves than other places, and so we're a bit more handy with our spleen venting than some.  That's a low-cost compared to the positives of free speech.  In theory if we got better at listening, it's also a great way of inspiring the best parts parts humanity.