THE World Health Organization (WHO) is monitoring the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019 – nCOV) every moment of every day.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom said the organisation shared the concerns of many people who were worried for their own health and that of their friends and family.
In his address at a press conference held in Geneva yesterday, he said the emergence of any new pathogen with the potential to cause severe illness and death was of grave concern and must be taken with the utmost seriousness.
“That is exactly what we are doing. Now more than ever is the time for being guided by the science and making rational, evidence-based decisions,” Dr Adhanom said.
“We are working closely with public health authorities in each of the affected countries to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and we’re providing guidance on counter measures to protect public health.
“The continued increases in cases, and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, are both deeply concerning.
“Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak.
“I have therefore decided to reconvene the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on novel coronavirus 2019, to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern, and to seek their recommendations on how best to protect people all over the world – while recognising what China is doing.”
The director general had just returned from China where he met President Xi Jinping, Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi this week.
He said during his visit, he had a series of very candid discussions based on mutual understanding.
“Our discussions focused on continued collaboration on containment measures in Wuhan, public health measures in other cities and provinces, conducting further studies on the severity and transmissibility of the virus, and sharing data and biological material.
“I was very encouraged and impressed by the President’s detailed knowledge of the outbreak, and his personal involvement in the response. This was for me very rare leadership.”
Also from the meeting, Dr Adhanom said he and President Xi had agreed and that WHO would lead a team of international experts to visit China as soon as possible to work with the government on increasing the understanding of the outbreak, to guide global response efforts.
According to Dr Adhanom, as of yesterday, in total, there are now 6065 confirmed cases, including 5997 in China, representing almost 99 per cent of all cases worldwide.
He had said in his address that 132 people had lost their lives to this outbreak, all of them in China; and outside China, there were 68 confirmed cases in 15 countries, which is 1 per cent of the total, and no deaths.
“The vast majority of cases outside China have a travel history to China or contact with someone with a travel history to China. There are signs of a few cases of human-to-human transmission outside China, which we are monitoring very closely.”
