Policy dogmas should not delay people responses

During a crisis, it is important for global agencies to be nimble and act on their feet

The coronavirus is not going away this summer. The searing heat will neither scorch nor subdue it, unless we are talking temperatures consistently upwards of 55 degree Celsius, which would burn people out first before knocking out the virus. Infections are peaking in some countries like the US but the numbers are flattening in Europe, and the global figures barely offer any consolation - four million cases and 280,000 deaths in four months since the outbreak spread across the world from China and transformed or mutated into a pandemic. 
When the then new coronavirus was detected in China in December, and Wuhan and Hubei province were locked down in January, the world thought it was immune to the crisis and life would continue as before. 
They were wrong as global lockdowns have now become the order of the day and talk of second waves of the virus are keeping governments on their toes and medical systems on the edge. Another surge could certainly stretch things too far and out of control. South Korea, one of the early successes in containing the spread, now fears that another surge could demolish everything it had done right earlier. 
But the question is this, how long can we wait for the vaccine? How many more lives will be lost before the swathe of death subsides? US President Donald Trump has warned of 100,000 fatalities, a revision from his earlier assessment. We should be concerned how quickly this virus has spread because of policy dogmas constricting global agencies.
What was interesting about the World Health Organization's guidelines early on in the crisis, when they declared a 'public health emergency' in late January, was that borders were not required to be sealed and people could fly the way they usually do. Alarms did not go off. Red flags were not raised. Only when a pandemic is declared should countries seal off borders and stop flights. That declaration from the WHO came late, on March 11, when global cases were 118,000 and the virus had spread to 110 countries and territories.
During a crisis, it is important for global agencies to be nimble and act on their feet. Once a cure or vaccine is found and this pandemic is contained globally, it is imperative upon countries to reform institutions and give them more autonomy to act and be less constrained by decades-old policies that have put people's lives at risk. -allan@khaleejtimes.com