Alan Christianson, NMD - Naturopathic Medicine
Dr. Christianson is a naturopathic medical doctor and the author of four books, including his latest, The Adrenal Reset Diet. He is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he founded Integrative Health, a physician group dedicated to helping people with thyroid disease and weight-loss resistance. He regularly appears on national TV shows, including Today and The Doctors. His website is at www.drchristianson.com
Tags: Virus Outbreak | WHO | No Hugging

UN Health Agency's Advice for the Holidays: Don't Hug

UN Health Agency's Advice for the Holidays: Don't Hug
(Dreamstime)

Monday, 07 December 2020 03:39 PM EST

The World Health Organization has an unwelcome but potentially life-saving message for the holiday season: Don't hug.

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, WHO's emergencies chief said Monday that the “shocking” rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly in the U.S., means that people shouldn't get too close to their loved ones this year.

“The epidemic in the U.S. is punishing. It’s widespread," said Dr. Michael Ryan. "It’s quite frankly, shocking, to see one to two persons a minute die in the U.S. — a country with a wonderful, strong health system (and) amazing technological capacities,” he said. At the moment, the U.S. accounts for a third of all COVID-19 cases in the world, Ryan added. According to Johns Hopkins University, the country has recorded more than 280,000 coronavirus deaths to date.

Ryan was responding to a question during a news conference about whether hugs could be considered “close contact” — which the U.N. health agency has generally advised against in areas of high coronavirus transmission.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said most transmission happens among people who tend to spend a lot of time together sharing meals and indoor spaces, in workplaces or homes — but it’s sometimes hard to “disentangle” how exactly the virus was spread.

Added Ryan: “It’s a horrible thing to think that we would be here as the World Health Organization saying to people, ‘Don’t hug each other.’ It’s terrible.”

“That is the brutal reality in places like the United States right now,” he said.

In November, U.K. chief medical officer Chris Whitty also told Britons that they shouldn't hug or kiss their elderly relatives during this year's holiday season “if you want them to survive to be hugged again.”

WHO's director of vaccines, Dr. Kate O'Brien, warned that while new immunization campaigns to combat COVID-19 should help slow the pandemic, “having vaccines is not going to be a switch” that means an automatic end to the pandemic.

Last week, Britain became the first Western country to approve the experimental shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech; the country is poised to start vaccinating its highest-risk populations on Tuesday in its biggest-ever immunization campaign.

O'Brien said that people who have concerns about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine developed in less than a year should learn more about the science, calling such worries “really legitimate questions.”

© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


AlanChristianson
The World Health Organization has an unwelcome but potentially life-saving message for the holiday season: Don't hug.To stop the spread of the coronavirus, WHO's emergencies chief said Monday that the "shocking" rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly in the U.S.,...
Virus Outbreak, WHO, No Hugging
389
2020-39-07
Monday, 07 December 2020 03:39 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
Find Your Condition
Get Newsmax Text Alerts
TOP

The information presented on this website is not intended as specific medical advice and is not a substitute for professional medical treatment or diagnosis. Read Newsmax Terms and Conditions of Service.

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEWSMAX.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved