After declaring the fast spreading and deadly coronavirus as a global epidemic last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared the virus outbreak that causes the disease Covid19 as a pandemic – the highest threat level that of the global health body.
The WHO said that currently more than 118,000 confirmed cases of the virus infection have been reported from all over the world even as the infection cases of the virus have now been reported from 114 countries around the world.
Tedros Adhanom, director general of the WHO said that the body is closely monitoring the situation of the virus spread across the world. “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” he said. “We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action.”
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that #COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic", Adhanom said in a tweet
Italy, South Korea, and the United States are the countries that have been the worst affected because of the outbreak outside of China. Response to the outbreak of the disease in the United States has been affected by the slow rollout of testing and limited testing capacity.
Adhanom said that it was still possible to control the spread of the virus while pointing out the diminishing number of virus infection cases in both China and South Korea. “It’s doable,” he said.
"81 countries have not reported any COVID19 cases, and 57 countries have reported 10 cases or less. We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic" Adhanom tweeted later.
He added in another tweet: "If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of #COVID19 cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission."
According to the WHO, a pandemic is defined as the “worldwide spread of a new disease”. However there is no stead fast criteria about the levels of spreading a new disease should reach before it is classified as a pandemic and there is not criteria about the classification related to the number of cases or deaths because of a new disease.
On January 30, the coronavirus outbreak was identified as a global public health emergency by the WHO. But the body has been reluctant to classify the coronavirus spread as an endemic over concerns that such an announcement could lead to unnecessary panic even as it would privately intimate countries about the virus spread being a pandemic.
“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” Adhanom said at a press briefing at the end of February. “What we see are epidemics in different parts of the world affecting different countries in different ways.”
(Source:www.theverge.com)
The WHO said that currently more than 118,000 confirmed cases of the virus infection have been reported from all over the world even as the infection cases of the virus have now been reported from 114 countries around the world.
Tedros Adhanom, director general of the WHO said that the body is closely monitoring the situation of the virus spread across the world. “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” he said. “We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action.”
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that #COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic", Adhanom said in a tweet
Italy, South Korea, and the United States are the countries that have been the worst affected because of the outbreak outside of China. Response to the outbreak of the disease in the United States has been affected by the slow rollout of testing and limited testing capacity.
Adhanom said that it was still possible to control the spread of the virus while pointing out the diminishing number of virus infection cases in both China and South Korea. “It’s doable,” he said.
"81 countries have not reported any COVID19 cases, and 57 countries have reported 10 cases or less. We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic" Adhanom tweeted later.
He added in another tweet: "If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of #COVID19 cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission."
According to the WHO, a pandemic is defined as the “worldwide spread of a new disease”. However there is no stead fast criteria about the levels of spreading a new disease should reach before it is classified as a pandemic and there is not criteria about the classification related to the number of cases or deaths because of a new disease.
On January 30, the coronavirus outbreak was identified as a global public health emergency by the WHO. But the body has been reluctant to classify the coronavirus spread as an endemic over concerns that such an announcement could lead to unnecessary panic even as it would privately intimate countries about the virus spread being a pandemic.
“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” Adhanom said at a press briefing at the end of February. “What we see are epidemics in different parts of the world affecting different countries in different ways.”
(Source:www.theverge.com)
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