Yahoo News WHO warns countries not to act like 'lemmings' and open up too quickly
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned countries they risk opening too soon if they follow others like "lemmings".
WHO's emergencies chief Mike Ryan has urged nations to chart their own path out of the pandemic and not blindly follow others.
Dr Ryan told a press conference on Tuesday: “My greatest fear at the moment is that countries have a lemming syndrome and they all chase to open up.
“And they open up on the basis the country next door opened up and the problem is they don’t have the same situation, they don’t have the same vaccine coverage, they don’t have a strong health system.”
Watch: Denmark scraps restrictions despite Omicron surge
Dr Ryan was responding to whether he thought WHO would lose political allies in upcoming elections due to the leaders not understanding life should move on after vaccination.
He added: “I’m really fearful that while some countries have the opportunity to raise measures more than others, others may choose that because there is political pressure to do that and that political pressure will result in some countries opening prematurely.
“And that will result in unnecessary transmission, unnecessary severe disease and unnecessary death.”
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WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was concerned about a narrative taking hold that because of vaccines and Omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission was no longer possible and no longer necessary.
"Nothing could be further from the truth," Tedros told the briefing.
"More transmission means more deaths. We are not calling for any country to return to so-called lockdown.
“But we are calling on all countries to protect their people using every tool in the toolkit, not vaccines alone."
He added: "It’s premature for any country to surrender or to declare victory."
Denmark became the first EU country to lift all COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday.
Nightclubs reopened, restaurants served alcohol after 10 pm and customers did not need to present vaccine passes upon entry.
Commuters could also take the bus without wearing a face mask and shops lifted limits on customer numbers.
The UK, Ireland and the Netherlands have also decided to remove most coronavirus curbs even though infections with the Omicron variant remain high.
British prime minister Boris Johnson said none of the so-called Plan B measures would remain in England when they lapsed on 26 January.
Face masks are not to be legally enforced anywhere and COVID passes are no longer mandatory.
The UK also said it would also no longer ask people to work from home.
Among the reasons given were case numbers dropping below peaks and lower numbers of hospitalisations than feared.
But the WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove warned: "We are urging caution because many countries have not gone through the peak of Omicron yet.
“Many countries have low levels of vaccination coverage with very vulnerable individuals within their populations.”
Watch: How the world could be better after COVID
