The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday said that he was self-quarantining after someone he was in contact with tested positive for Covid-19.

“I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19,” he tweeted. “I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with WHO protocols, and work from home.”

He also strongly advocated for the compliance of health guidance. “This is how we will break chains of Covid-19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems,” the world health body chief said. “My WHO colleagues and I will continue to engage with partners in solidarity to save lives and protect the vulnerable.”

Tedros has been at the forefront of the world’s battle against the pandemic.

On October 25, he cautioned against “vaccine nationalism” and urged countries to show solidarity at the time of rollout. On October 12, he warned against suggestions that herd immunity might be a realistic strategy to stop the coronavirus pandemic, saying such an approach was “simply unethical”. Herd immunity occurs when majority of a population becomes immune to a disease through vaccinations or through the mass spread of a disease.

In September, when several countries, including India, was gradually easing restrictions on lockdowns, Tedros had called on them to keep the curbs in place to rein in the coronavirus pandemic. He had said that opening up societies without control over the infection would be a “recipe for disaster”.

The coronavirus has infected more than 4.64 crore people and killed 11,99,684 in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Over 3.10 crore people have recovered from the infection.

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