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#Post#: 3--------------------------------------------------
WHO press conferences
By: gsgs Date: January 29, 2020, 8:41 am
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Live broadcast - WHO press conference on new Coronavirus - Today
at 17h Geneva time
WHO will hold a press conference today at 15h Geneva time in the
UN building in Geneva
on the situation regarding New Coronavirus
Speakers will be:
• Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies
Programme
• Dr Maria VAN KERKHOVE, Head a.i., Emerging Diseases and
Zoonosis, WHO
The press conference will be broadcast live on WHO Twitter
account: @WHO
Please send your questions using: #AskWHO
Speakers will be:
• Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies
Programme
• Dr Maria VAN KERKHOVE, Head a.i., Emerging Diseases and
Zoonosis, WHO
Place: Salle de Press III
#Post#: 132--------------------------------------------------
Re: WHO press conferences
By: gsgs Date: February 24, 2020, 3:36 pm
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WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on
COVID-19 - 24 February 2020
Today, 09:20 PM
Source:
HTML https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/deta...-february-2020
24 February 2020
Good afternoon everyone. Let me start, as always, with the
latest numbers.
As of 6am Geneva time this morning, China has reported a total
of 77,362 cases of COVID-19 to WHO, including 2618 deaths.
In the past 24 hours, China has reported 416 new confirmed
cases, and 150 deaths.
We’re encouraged by the continued decline in cases in China.
Earlier today the WHO-China joint mission concluded its visit
and delivered its report.
As you know, the team has traveled to several different
provinces, including Wuhan.
The team has made a range of findings about the transmissibility
of the virus, the severity of disease and the impact of the
measures taken.
They found that the epidemic peaked and plateaued between the
23rd of January and the 2nd of February, and has been declining
steadily since then.
They have found that there has been no significant change in the
DNA of the virus.
They found that the fatality rate is between 2% and 4% in Wuhan,
and 0.7% outside Wuhan.
They found that for people with mild disease, recovery time is
about two weeks, while people with severe or critical disease
recover within three to six weeks.
The team also estimate that the measures taken in China have
averted a significant number of cases.
The report contains a wealth of other information, highlights
questions for which we still don’t have answers, and includes 22
recommendations.
Dr Bruce Aylward will give more detail tomorrow on behalf of the
joint team.
But the key message that should give all countries hope, courage
and confidence is that this virus can be contained.
Indeed, there are many countries that have done exactly that.
Outside China, there are now 2074 cases in 28 countries, and 23
deaths.
The sudden increases of cases in Italy, the Islamic Republic of
Iran and the Republic of Korea are deeply concerning.
There’s a lot of speculation about whether these increases mean
that this epidemic has now become a pandemic.
We understand why people ask that question.
WHO has already declared a public health emergency of
international concern – our highest level of alarm – when there
were less than 100 cases outside China, and 8 cases of
human-to-human transmission.
Our decision about whether to use the word “pandemic” to
describe an epidemic is based on an ongoing assessment of the
geographical spread of the virus, the severity of disease it
causes and the impact it has on the whole of society.
For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global
spread of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale
severe disease or death.
Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has. Are
we there yet? From our assessment, not yet.
So how should we describe the current situation?
What we see are epidemics in different parts of the world,
affecting countries in different ways and requiring a tailored
response.
The sudden increase in new cases is certainly very concerning.
I have spoken consistently about the need for facts, not fear.
Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may
certainly cause fear.
This is not the time to focus on what word we use.
That will not prevent a single infection today, or save a single
life today.
This is a time for all countries, communities, families and
individuals to focus on preparing.
We do not live in a binary, black-and-white world.
It’s not either-or. We must focus on containment, while doing
everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every country must make
its own risk assessment for its own context. WHO is also
continuing to do its own risk assessment and is monitoring the
evolution of the epidemic around the clock.
But there are at least three priorities.
First, all countries must prioritize protecting health workers.
Second, we must engage communities to protect people who are
most at risk of severe disease, particularly the elderly and
people with underlying health conditions.
And third, we must protect countries that are the most
vulnerable, by doing our utmost to contain epidemics in
countries with the capacity to do it.
In the past few days I have held meetings with the foreign
ministers of France, Germany, Indonesia, Cuba and the Republic
of Korea, and I want to thank them for agreeing to support the
response.
I also wish to thank the European Commission for its
contribution of 232 million euros, which demonstrates the kind
of global solidarity that gives me hope. France, Germany and
Sweden have also announced additional contributions.
This is a shared threat. We can only face it together, and we
can only overcome it together.
When we act together – countries, regional and global health
organizations, the media, the private sector, and people
everywhere – our collective strength is formidable.
Alone, we lose. Together, we win.
I thank you
#Post#: 136--------------------------------------------------
Re: WHO press conferences
By: gsgs Date: February 26, 2020, 2:25 am
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transcript Feb.24 , 26 pages , .pdf
HTML https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/joint-mission-press-conference-script-english-final.pdf
#Post#: 137--------------------------------------------------
Re: WHO press conferences
By: gsgs Date: February 29, 2020, 9:28 am
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The WHO report about the China mission , 40 pages .pdf:
HTML https://who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
here is a good summary+comment by Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape
on twitter
there are also several responses ,
HTML https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1233343695577133056
I only list Kai's summary here, without the twitter-interrupts :
Like Aylward in his presser the report of the joint mission
heaps praise on China for its
response to #covid19:
“In the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out
perhaps the most ambitious,
agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history.”
Achieving China’s exceptional coverage with and adherence to
these containment measures
has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese
people to collective
action in the face of this common threat.” I’ll let others parse
this sentence...
Report highlights solidarity within China: “Despite ongoing
outbreaks in their own areas,
Governors and Mayors have continued to send thousands of health
care workers and tons
of vital PPE supplies into Hubei province and Wuhan city”
This is the money quote: “China’s bold approach to contain the
rapid spread of this new
respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly
escalating and deadly epidemic.
This decline in #COVID19 cases across China is real.”
Assuming all this is widely accepted, the question is one I and
others have raised several
times in the last week: how much of this can and should be
implemented in other countries?
Report says about Chinese people: “They have accepted and
adhered to the starkest of
containment measures – whether the suspension of public
gatherings, the month-long
‘stay at home’ advisories or prohibitions on travel.” Would that
be true in Germany? In the US?!
Report: “Much of the global community is not yet ready, in
mindset and materially,
to implement the measures that have been employed to contain
#COVID19 in China.
These are the only measures that are currently proven to
interrupt or minimize transmission
chains in humans”
“Fundamental to these measures is extremely proactive
surveillance to immediately detect cases,
very rapid diagnosis and immediate case isolation, rigorous
tracking and quarantine of close
contacts, and..an exceptionally high degree of population
understanding and acceptance
of these measures.” You can say that again.
I’ll highlight two more points from the report that seem
particularly important:
What happens now in China as measures are relaxed. Cases might
reappear, but country
is better prepared now, report says. joint mission “endorses
China’s working assumption
that in most provinces and municipalities it should soon be
possible to manage a resurgence
in #COVID19.”
“The world urgently needs access to China’s experience in
responding to #COVID19,
as well as the material goods it brings to the global response.
It is even more urgent now,
with escalating #COVID19 outbreaks outside of China”
The other point: “The time gained by rigorously applying
#COVID19 containment measures
must be used more effectively to urgently enhance global
readiness and rapidly develop the
specific tools that are needed to ultimately stop this virus” I
think everyone will agree on this.
Bear in mind: This was a very rapid first parsing of some things
that jumped out at me from
the report’s conclusions. There will be much more to talk about
with this report. It may well
dominate the #covid19 debate in the coming days.
Also remember: This was a report written jointly by
international and Chinese experts.
It is the product of a scientific mission and a lot of
diplomacy.
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