Keeping borders closed to stop the spread of COVID-19 is unsustainable, the World Health Organization said Monday, urging countries to adopt comprehensive strategies based on local knowledge of where the virus is spreading.
Border closures and travel restrictions remain an important part of many countries' strategies to combat the new coronavirus.
At the same time, the increase in cases in a number of countries in Europe and elsewhere that had eased measures after appearing to be in control of their outbreaks has sparked discussions about possible new border closings.
But the UN health agency warned that such measures cannot be maintained indefinitely and are only useful when combined with a wide range of other measures to detect and break transmission chains.
"Continuing to keep international borders sealed is not necessarily a sustainable strategy for the world economy, for the world's poor or for anyone else," Michael Ryan, WHO director of emergencies, told reporters in a virtual conference.
"It is going to be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders closed for the foreseeable future," he said, noting that "economies have to open, people have to work, trade must resume."
He recognized that when it comes to COVID-19, it is impossible to have a "one size fits all policy" because outbreaks are unfolding differently in different countries.
While countries with rampant community transmission may need to use the blunt instrument of locks to gain control of the situation, others should dig to get a clear overview of where and how the virus is spreading locally.
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