WHO urges governments to engage in ‘honest dialogue’ with coronavirus protesters
- Call comes after a march in Berlin by tens of thousands of people opposed to coronavirus restrictions
- WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said ‘the virus is real. It is dangerous. It moves fast and it kills’
The World Health Organisation urged governments on Monday to engage with people demonstrating against Covid-19 restrictions and listen to their concerns, but stressed protesters needed to understand the virus was dangerous.
Asked about recent demonstrations in a number of countries against coronavirus restrictions, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was important to “listen to what people are asking, what people are saying”.
“We should engage in an honest dialogue,” he told reporters, stressing though that demonstrators have a responsibility to ensure protests are safe.
“The virus is real. It is dangerous. It moves fast and it kills,” he said, insisting “we have to do everything to protect ourselves and to protect others”.
German police on Saturday halted a Berlin march by tens of thousands of people opposed to coronavirus restrictions in the biggest of several European protests against face mask rules and other antivirus curbs.