WHO’s Kluge Praises Albanian Govt for ‘Prompt’ Response to C19 as Opposition Unveils Dramatic Situation of Pandemic

“I want to express my gratitude to the Albanian government for the prompt and decisive response to COVID-19. Albania is one of the few countries that did not suffer the first wave, as it immediately decided hto impose strict restrictions,” has said Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe Hans Kluge.
Kluge paid a visit to Tirana on Thursday at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has taken frightening proportions in Albania with average daily infections around 450 cases. Fatalities vary from 8 to 12. On Friday, there were 490 new cases while 7 patients passed away according to figures released by Health Ministry.
The total confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in Albania stands at 26,211, with 12,574 recoveries and 598 fatalities.
WHO will provide Albania with 200,000 fast COVID-19 tests, Director Kluge said at a joint press conference with Albanian Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu. He specified that the fast tests will be sent to Albania after five to eight weeks.
Kluge said that testing alone is not a “magical” solution to prevent COVID-19 infections, but it takes other important steps, such as tracking and isolation.
Kluge praised the measures taken by the Albanian government to cope with the situation caused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked whether Albania will have access to any future COVID-19 vaccine in the same way as other countries, Kluge underlined that all countries should have access to the vaccine, adding that “this will be a test for global solidarity.”
On Thursday, Kluge and Manastirliu signed a biennial collaborative agreement, which focuses on strengthening capacities to prevent and cope with the pandemic and improve access to health care.
“The agreement signed is a concrete commitment to support better access to essential services, strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent and control the pandemic, strengthen capacities related to innovation and digitalization, and address main health factors in order to make the population healthier,” Manastirliu said.
Kluge called the signing of the agreement a positive step in the joint work for welfare and healthcare.
In the meantime the opposition considers the situation very tragic and the government has failed to cope with it.
Former MP of the Democratic Party, Orjola Pampuri reacted in relation to the images published on Friday from the Infectious Diseases Hospital, which showed over 10 ambulances that had sent emergencies, with patients with COVID. Through a post on ‘Facebook’, as she shared the video in question, Pampuri emphasizes that these are the real images that overthrow the propaganda of the montages of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
According to her, patients and their families have been facing a long wait for the release of a bed at COVID 1 hospital. /argumentum.al