Here are 6 criteria gov'ts should satisfy before lifting lockdown, according to WHO

The World Health Organization has listed a set of criteria to be met before governments can lift lockdown measures amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Several countries have started to ease restrictions, but WHO stressed the need for "extreme vigilance" to avoid a second wave of infections.

"Each government must assess their situation, while protecting all their citizens, and especially the most vulnerable," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

To help countries decide their next steps, the agency released the following criteria:

1. Government must have control over COVID-19 spread

The government must monitor all confirmed and possible COVID-19 cases to stop the spread of the virus.

Health facilities must also have enough supplies and equipment to help all COVID-19 patients.

2. Health system are able to "detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact"

The health system in the country must be capable of detecting, testing and isolating every COVID-19 case and tracing every possible contact.

Detection of COVID-19 symptoms during its early stage must be quick, said WHO. This can be achieved by placing an efficient process for case finding, self-reporting, entry screening among others.

Not only must detection of symptoms be quick, but releasing of COVID-19 tests results for all suspected cases must also be given within just 24 hours.

Health facilities must also have the proper equipment and capacity to test and confirm if patients are officially virus-free.

Should a patient test with the disease, they must be quickly isolated from everybody else to contain the spread of the virus. WHO recommended isolating patients with mild to moderate cases in hospitals or other designated facilities.

WHO also said that a COVID-19 patient's close contacts must be immediately identified so they can go under quarantine and be monitored for 14 days.

3. Hot spot risks must be minimized

Hot spot risks must be minimized, especially in vulnerable areas such as nursing homes.

The government must know all the vulnerable areas already and have an active plan to stop the spread of another outbreak and nosocomial infections or infections that come from healthcare facilities or hospitals.

One of the ways to avoid this is a triage and giving personal protective equipment to health and residential care facilities.

4. Proper plan is in place to stop COVID-19 spread in schools, offices, and other places with gatherings

A proper plan must be in place to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in schools, offices and other places where people gather.

Social distancing must be strictly in place. The practice of proper hygiene, respiratory or cough etiquette, and temperature monitoring should also be followed.

5. Government must manage entry of new cases in country

The government must be able to manage and control the entry of new COVID-19 cases in the country.

Aside from relying on proper studies, the government should have an action plan in quickly identifying suspected COVID-19 cases entering the country. This entails the government's capability to quarantine travelers who came from other places with community transmission.

6. Communities are fully educated to live under a new normal

Communities must be able to fully comprehend and understand that even though the lockdown will be lifted, certain guidelines will still be imposed to safeguard against COVID-19.

People need to be aware that not everything will immediately go back to what it used to be before the virus.

In the Philippines, general community quarantine has been lifted in some provinces while Metro Manila and other high-risk areas have been placed under a modified enhanced commmunity quarantine. —Kaela Malig/MGP, GMA News