WORLD
COVID-19 not yet a pandemic, says UN health agency chief
Baku, February 25, AZERTAC
While a sudden increase in new cases of COVID-19 is of concern, the spread of coronavirus is not yet a pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in Geneva.
He explained that the decision to use the word ‘pandemic’ is based on an ongoing assessment of the geographical spread of the virus, the severity of disease it causes, and the impact on 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,” he said, adding that what is occurring is coronavirus epidemics in different parts of the world, which are affecting countries differently.
The coronavirus emerged late last year in China, where cases are now declining.
A joint WHO-China mission has concluded its work, after travelling to several provinces, including Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak.
It found that the epidemic peaked and plateaued between 23 January and 2 February, and has been declining steadily ever since.
As of Monday morning, there were more than 77,362 cases and more than 2,600 deaths.
Outside China, there are now 2,074 cases of COVID-19 in 28 countries, with 23 deaths.
The WHO chief described the sudden increase of cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea as “deeply concerning”.
He stressed the need to focus on containment “while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic”.