Dr Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, says lockdowns across Europe have reduced the overall transmission of coronavirus by 45% compared to April 8. 'As of Saturday it appears the initial wave of transmission has passed its peak'.
ECDC's Dr Ammon: 'This is a marathon not a sprint. People’s expectations about the pandemic situation, duration, effect it'll continue to have on their lives for the foreseeable future needs to be managed. This isn't going to end any time soon and people need to prepare for it.'
ECDC's Dr Ammon says the only country with increases coronavirus cases in Europe is Bulgaria. 'There are four countries where we see no substantial changes in the last 14 days - Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the UK. All the others we really see this substantial decrease.'
ECDC sounds skeptical about masks. Dr Ammon says there's 'very little evidence' of how much they help stop the spread of the virus and those wearing them are more likely to touch their face. They 'should always be seen as an additional tool' to hygiene/social distancing measures.
