The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, declared a “public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus,” adding that China was setting a “new standard for outbreak response.”
Speaking to reporters in Geneva on 30 January following a meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee, Tedros said over the past few weeks, “we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak, and which has been met by an unprecedented response.”
He said, “The speed with which China detected the outbreak, isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with WHO and the world are very impressive, and beyond words. So is China’s commitment to transparency and to supporting other countries. In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. It’s not an exaggeration.”
The Director-General noted that he was declaring the public health emergency of international concern not because of what is happening in China, “but because of what is happening in other countries” adding that WHO’s greatest concern is “the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”
Speaking to the people of China and to all of those around the world who have been affected by this outbreak, Tedros said, “the world stands with you.” He stressed that WHO is working “diligently with national and international public health partners to bring this outbreak under control as fast as possible.”
The Director-General underscored that WHO “doesn’t recommend and actually opposes any restrictions for travel and trade or other measures against China.”~WHO
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