To cope with the epidemic, two things have to be done: on the one hand, organizing the community and, on the other, reducing mobility in the most polluted areas. Both are essential and cannot cope with the epidemic without the imposition of both.

David Nabarro has been unsure when he asks about the prolongation of the epidemic. It doesn't know when it can end, but people say it has to be clear that it's going to be a matter of a few months. “We are not at the top of the curve, but at the beginning,” he says, and predicts that the availability of the vaccine will last another year.

Asked whether the European countries have delayed the measures, the expert said that everyone has done what is in their hands. In this regard, he pointed out that the main problem for European countries is that few medical tests are carried out. It has set an example in the actions of China, South Korea and Singapore: a strong health system, the promotion of hygiene, and cooperation between the Government and society.

With uncertainty

This type of virus is unstable and there may be new outbreaks in countries presumably missing. The increase in infections and deaths in the Spanish state, above other Europeans, has no special cause, as a citizen with mild or no symptoms may have infected many others.

However, it has pointed out that a well-organized health system, with the participation of people, helps maintain a low mortality rate.

Practice for future challenges

The fact that European countries have not experienced such plagues in the last 100 years has suddenly caught governments, and the response has been slower than that of other continents. However, Nabarro does not want to describe the response as “slow”, as each Government has acted according to its own capacities.

He says that the coronavirus is a threat to the existence of mankind, and that the collaboration needed to cope with it is a practice that faces the challenges that will be faced in the future, such as the loss of biodiversity or the increase in temperatures.