WHO & FIFA Launch Campaign to “Kick Out Coronavirus”
Gianni Infantino (left) and Dr Tedros (right) sit at least 2m apart from each other at the WHO COVID-19 Press Briefing

A World Health Organization – Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) joint campaign was launched on Monday to “kick out coronavirus” as global confirmed cases of COVID-19 soared past 350,000 Monday afternoon. 

Football can reach millions of people, especially younger people, that public health officials cannot,” he added.

It took 67 days to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 more days to surpass 200,000 cases, and only 4 days to reach the 300,000 benchmark, noted Dr Tedros soberly in a press briefing. 

Alisson Becker, WHO Ambassador and Liverpool’s goalkeeper, joined Tedros via video chat and told the public, ”Health comes first in this moment. It’s time, like in football, to have teamwork.

“That means everybody does their own job – that includes being safe, staying at home, following the local authorities’ advice…We can’t forget that for now we need to work as a team.”

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, said that FIFA’s 211 member countries will be rolling out the “kick out coronavirus” campaign in the next few days.

 

Still, Dr Tedros told reporters that such physical distancing measures were “defensive” and not enough to quash the virus alone.

You can’t win a football game only by defending. You have to attack as well,” said Tedros.

“To win, we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics –  testing every suspected case, isolating and caring for every confirmed case, and tracing and quarantining every close contact.”

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