WHO official condemns lack of masks at Euro finals

pharmafile | July 12, 2021 | News story | Sales and Marketing  

WHO COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, has condemned the lack of masks and social distancing at last night’s Euro final in a tweet, calling the sight “devastating”.

Kerkhove, an epidemiologist, said she had been devastated to watch unmasked crowds singing and shouting expressing fears it will spur on transmission of COVID-19.

The UK is currently amid a third wave of the virus, with the Delta variant spurring on infections. Despite this, a full lifting of COVID related restrictions is set to occur on July 19.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month defended the decision to allow more than 60,000 people to attend the final, saying it was being hosted in a “careful and controlled manner with testing of everybody who goes there”.

Globally, the rate of COVID-19 infection is rising. There were over 2.6 million new cases last week, with Europe experiencing a sharp increase of 30 %, the WHO said in its latest epidemiological update.

The comments from Kerkhove are unusual for the WHO, which typically refrains from remarking on the policies of individual member states.

 

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