During a regular update on the COVID-19 outbreak today (9 Mar) in Geneva, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said, “we’re not at the mercy of the virus,” and he added that “the decisions we all make as governments, businesses, communities, families, and individuals can influence the trajectory of this epidemic.”
Dr. Tedros said, “now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, that threat of a pandemic has become very real, but it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled.” He highlighted that “with decisive, early action, we can slow down the virus and prevent infections.”
The health official said, “of all the cases reported globally so far, 93 percent are from just four countries. This is uneven epidemic at the global level. Different countries are in different scenarios requiring a tailored response. It’s not about containment or mitigation, which is a false dichotomy. It is about both.”
He pointed out that “almost 300 million US dollars has now been pledged to WHO strategic preparedness and response plan” and called on all countries “to take early and aggressive action to protect their people and save lives.”
WHO’s Executive Director for Health Emergencies Programme Dr. Micheal Ryan said, “the real tragedy, I think, in the coming days and weeks, will be the moral hazard and the dilemma that health workers may face if they’ve got COVID-19 patients in front of them who need help and they don’t have the protective equipment to protect themselves. Would you like to be that health worker? Would you like to be a doctor or a nurse, having to treat a patient knowing full well that you’re not protected?”
The latest WHO situation report indicates that there 109,578 confirmed cases worldwide, with 3809 deaths.
