Supply nationalism exacerbated the pandemic, many countries still do not have enough: WHO chief Tedros

World Health Organization(WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus epedicmic was the one of the toughest challenges the UN health agency has faced, while asserting that "supply nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain."

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"For a period of time, some countries were without key supplies, such as key items for health workers who were dealing with surging cases of COVID-19," Tedros said.

"And many countries still do not have enough," the WHO chief said, adding,"the response to this pandemic has to be collective. This is not charity, we have learned the hard way."

The WHO chief said that the "highest risk populations" should be protected first, than "the entire populations of just some countries."

"Sharing finite supplies strategically and globally is actually in each country's national interest. No one is safe until everyone is safe," Tedros stated.

Meanwhile, the head of the WHO's European branch, Hans Kluge told reporters that Europe can combat the new coronavirus without full lockdowns since authorities are now better prepared to handle outbreaks.

"We can manage the virus and keep the economy running and an education system in operation," he said. Europe has witnessed an outbreak of the virus in the past few months after being hit hard from Februaryand April, even though the virus had faded but it has shown signs of coming back with Spain, Italy and Germany.

In the first week of August, 40,000 more cases were reported in Europe.

"But we are not in February, we can manage the virus differently now than we did when COVID-19 first emerged," Kluge said.