WHO Warns Against Waiting For Herd Immunity; U.N. Climate Chief Discusses Pandemic, Climate Change; U.N. Human Rights Committee Clarifies Language On Protests During Public Health Emergencies

CNBC: WHO warns that waiting to achieve herd immunity to the coronavirus will kill a lot of people
“The World Health Organization on Wednesday advised public officials against trying to achieve so-called herd immunity to the coronavirus by allowing it to rapidly spread throughout their communities, saying it will overwhelm hospitals and kill a lot of people…” (Lovelace, 7/29).

PRI: U.N. climate chief on coronavirus and climate change: We must ‘address these two fundamental, existential crises together’
“…Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is tasked with taking the climate crisis threat head-on. As the chief of the U.N.’s climate conferences, she wrangles every country on the planet to make and meet ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions. Speaking with The World’s host Marco Werman from her home in Bonn, Germany, Espinosa asserts that the climate crisis is ‘the biggest threat to humanity now and into the future,’ and adds that ‘the climate crisis was there before COVID-19 started’ and has not ‘taken a break because of COVID-19’…” (Kusmer, 7/29).

Washington Times: U.N. rules that countries may place restrictions on protests during a public health emergency
“The United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled Wednesday that governments can restrict protests and demonstrations for public health reasons. The committee sought to specify its longstanding freedom of speech laws after worldwide anti-racism protests that occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in the rule’s language…” (Meier, 7/29).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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