“Mobile (contact tracing) applications can help with contact tracing, but nothing replaces resources and a presence in the field,” said the Director-General ofWHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a virtual press conference from Geneva. For the WHO chief, in addition to these contact tracing apps, we also need “workers trained to go door to door” to find cases and contacts, and thus “to break the chains of transmission ”.
But in this battle with disease, contact tracing isn’t the only tool. “It has to be part of a complete package. But it is one of the most important, ”added Dr Tedros. WHO also recalls that contact tracing has long been the basis of the response to epidemics, from smallpox to polio, including the Ebola virus and Covid-19.
“As we have said on numerous occasions, so-called ‘containment’ measures can help reduce the transmission of Covid-19, but they cannot stop it completely,” added the Director-General, noting that ” contact tracing is essential to find and isolate cases and to identify and quarantine their contacts ”. One way to remember that even countries with community transmission, the fight is to achieve “progress by dismantling the epidemic into manageable parts”.
“We don’t need to wait for a vaccine. We have to save lives now ”
This is all the more important as countries start to open up. “Responding quickly to new cases and clusters of cases will allow countries to continue on the path of economic recovery, while keeping the virus at bay,” assured Dr. Tedros. “It is important to list and map contacts,” said Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO Deputy Director in charge of emergency response, insisting on daily contact monitoring.
In this regard, WHO notes that one of the lessons learned from the recent Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which was declared last month, is that “the search for contacts can be carried out even in the most difficult circumstances ”. “When the Ebola virus was discovered last year in the city of Butembo, DRC, experts wondered if it would be possible to control the epidemic,” said Dr. Socé Fall, stressing that On many occasions, trained contact tracers working closely with leaders and local communities have tracked the virus, sometimes for hundreds of kilometers over very difficult terrain.
While Ebola and the new coronavirus are different viruses, the principle remains the same. “No matter how serious the situation, there is always hope,” insisted the head of the WHO. But the pandemic can be stopped “with strong leadership, community engagement and a comprehensive strategy to suppress transmission and save lives.”
“We don’t need to wait for a vaccine. We have to save lives now. Make no mistake, we must continue to accelerate research on the Covid-19 vaccine, while doing more with the tools at our disposal, ”Dr Tedros reiterated.
Ultimately, “one of the key tools to suppress the transmission of Covid-19 in indigenous communities – and in all communities – is contact tracing,” he added.
Indigenous populations particularly threatened by the coronavirus
“No country can control its epidemic if it does not know where the virus is,” warned the head of the WHO, who was also deeply concerned about the impact of the virus on “indigenous peoples in the Americas, which remain the current epicenter of the pandemic.
“As of July 6, more than 70,000 cases have been reported among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and over two thousand deaths,” said Dr. Tedros, adding that recently at least six cases have been reported in the Americas. Nahua people, who live in the Peruvian Amazon. Although people from all walks of life are affected by Covid-19, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable are particularly at risk. “This is the case with indigenous peoples around the world, in urban and remote areas,” said the WHO Director-General.
According to the UN agency, there are up to 500 million indigenous peoples in the world, in more than 90 countries. Like other vulnerable groups, indigenous peoples face many challenges. These include the lack of political representation, economic marginalization and lack of access to health, education and social services. “Indigenous peoples often face a heavy burden of poverty, unemployment, malnutrition and both communicable and non-communicable diseases, which makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19 and its serious consequences,” noted the Dr. Tedros.
More than 14 million cases of infection including 600,000 deaths
The Covid-19 has killed at least 603,691 people around the world since the onset of the disease at the end of December, according to a report established on Monday by the WHO. More than 14 million cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 196 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic.
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 137,674 deaths for 3,544,143 cases. After the United States, the countries most affected are Brazil with 77,851 deaths for 2,046,328 cases, the United Kingdom with 45,300 deaths (294,792 cases), Mexico with 38,310 deaths (331,298 cases), Italy with 35,045 deaths (244,434 cases) and France with 30,152 deaths (174,674 cases).
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