Coronavirus is ‘controllable’ says WHO head

GENEVA

The coronavirus, which is now formally a global pandemic, is controllable, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

Addressing international diplomats in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Let me be clear: describing this as a pandemic does not mean that countries should give up. The idea that countries should shift from containment to mitigation is wrong and dangerous. On the contrary, we have to double down.

“This is a controllable pandemic. Countries that decide to give up on fundamental public health measures may end up with a larger problem, and a heavier burden on the health system that requires more severe measures to control.”

He warned, however, that despite frequent warnings, the WHO is deeply concerned that some countries “are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it". He did not name any country.

Shortly after Tedros spoke, UN Human Rights Council President Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger announced suspension of its 43rd session due to coronavirus.

The global death toll from coronavirus has crossed 4,600 with more than 124,000 cases confirmed in 118 countries, according to WHO.

In the past two weeks, the number of cases reported outside China has increased almost 13-fold and the number of affected countries has nearly tripled.

The WHO head said that there are still 77 countries and territories with no reported cases and 55 countries and territories that have reported 10 cases or less.

“And all countries with cases have unaffected areas. You have an opportunity to keep it that way. Prepare your people and your health facilities,” he said.

“You can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it is. That means robust surveillance to find, isolate, test, and treat every case, to break the chains of transmission,” he noted.