Friday, December 8, 2023
 
 

WHO declares Coronavirus a global health emergency

EPA-EFE/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to the media after the WHO's Emergency Committee meeting on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), during a press conference, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 January 2020.

- Advertisement -

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an international health emergency over the outbreak of the coronavirus, after an emergency meeting was held at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, on Thursday.
The declaration, which is officially called a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, means that the disease now poses a risk beyond China, where it emerged last month.
“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,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General, who also praised China’s efforts to contain the disease.
The announcement came hours after the US confirmed its first human-to-human transmission of the the fast-spreading coronavirus. So far, 8 cases of human-to-human transmission in 4 countries outside China have been confirmed.
“This declaration is to protect especially countries with weaker health systems and to prepare for that,” said Ghebreyesus, adding that “we are all in this together and we can only stop it together”.
 

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

Don't miss

What will it take to prevent a Gaza reconstruction fiasco?

Let us be unequivocal about the current war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas - the latter declared this war on Israeli...

Ukraine’s persecuted mayor

Lest it be forgotten, the major thematic issue in post-Maidan and pre-war Ukraine was, and continues to be, the transformation of Ukrainian society along...

Cameron’s return as Foreign Secretary raises UK’s international profile

David Cameron, who was made foreign secretary in a surprise move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his cabinet reshuffle on November 13, brings...

Russia’s powerful economic levers over Armenia

Armenia's relations with its strategic partner Russia are getting worse and worse and its leaders seem to desire a shift in geopolitical orientation towards the West....

New US actions against corruption and Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans

On November 16, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known by its acronym OFAC, designated eight individuals and six...

Rebuilding Ukraine: Opportunities and concerns for foreign businesses

Such is the scale of the effort required to rebuild Ukraine that the World Bank in March 2023 estimated it at $411 billion. That...

Why China’s new map has stirred regional tensions

In the waning days of summer, closely following a BRICS summit and mere days ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Group...

Kazakhstan accelerating efforts to expand the strategic Middle Corridor

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is frequently referred to as the Middle Corridor, is a multilateral institutional development project linking the containerized rail...