Countries must “double-down” on their efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the UN health agency said after announcing that the global emergency can now be described as a pandemic. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the announcement as “a call to action – for everyone, everywhere.”
Speaking in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that the fact that the term was being used did not mean that the virus had the upper hand.
“It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do”, he said, urging Governments to pursue containment and isolation measures to prevent the virus from spreading.
The latest data indicates more than 118,000 cases of infection in 114 countries, and 4,291 deaths – a 13-fold increase outside China in the past two weeks, and a threefold rise in the number of affected countries.
With thousands more “fighting for their lives” in hospitals, Tedros noted that the toll was likely to climb in coming days and weeks.
Despite this bleak forecast, the WHO Director-General pointed out the vast majority of countries were still relatively untouched by COVID-19, which first surfaced in central China last December.
Around 90 percent of cases were in just four countries and China and South Korea had seen “significantly declining” numbers of cases, he added.
The UN chief said in a message that the new pandemic phase in the fight, was “a call for responsibility and solidarity – as nations united, and as people united.”
“As we fight the virus, we cannot let fear go viral”, he added, noting that “together, we can still change the course of this pandemic – but that means addressing inaction.”
“The best science tells us, if countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, we can go a long way to mitigating transmission.”
Tedros said in Geneva that 81 countries have not reported any cases “so they should do everything to not import cases”. Another 57 countries have reported 10 cases or less, “so they can cut it from the bud”.
Briefing journalists at WHO headquarters, Tedros insisted that it would be “a mistake” for countries to abandon efforts to contain the virus.
Original source: UN News
Published on 11 March 2020
