WHO Says World Should Prepare for Potential Coronavirus Pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom conceded on Monday that what is today an epidemic — the Covid-19 or Wuhan coronavirus — will most likely turn into something bigger. “We cannot paralyze the world, and it is unrealistic to say that it is possible to stop transmission between countries. There will probably be epidemics in several, but it can be contained,” said Michael Ryan, director of the international organization’s Emergency Program.

The outlook has changed rapidly in a matter of days. It shifted from a scenario of the seemingly contained cases in China and the rest of the world, with very few infections, to uncontrolled outbreaks in Italy, North Korea, and Iran. Ghebreyesus stressed that outbreaks can be contained and that the scenario remains one of epidemics, both in terms of the number of cases and of deaths outside China. However, he urged countries and communities to prepare for the spread of the coronavirus.

“It is not a question of black or white, yes or no. Each country has to draw up its own risk containment plan. The priorities are the protection of health professionals, the mobilization of communities to take special care of the elderly and pathologies [they have recorded more than 80 percent of deaths so far] and the protection of the most vulnerable countries, containing the epidemic in those that can”.

The new situation is still a mystery, and every minute counts. The mere fact that it can delay reaching the northern countries for a few weeks could mean a great relief, Ryan said, as the seasonal flu will be slowing and health systems will be freed from this burden to be able to attend to the potential Covid-19 patients. “We cannot know what will happen, whether [the epidemic] will be contained or become a seasonal disease,” he said.

At the quasi-daily briefing that WHO officials grant the press to report on the latest details of the virus, the results of the experts’ visit to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, were also introduced to assess the situation. The good news is that the situation in China is not out of control and that figures remain stable.

The genetic sequence of the coronavirus also remains stable and recovery time varies between two weeks (in the lightest cases) and three to six weeks (in the most severe cases). The proportion of deaths currently ranges from two to four percent in Wuhan and about 0.7 percent abroad.

Source: El Pais

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