Whole World Must Be Ready To Deal With Coronavirus, Says WHO

Source: The Guardian

Countries urged to be on alert as number of confirmed cases passes 6,000. The whole world must be on alert to deal with the spread of coronavirus, the World Health Organization has said as it urged countries to prepare so that they are ready to detect any cases that occur and isolate and treat the sick.

WHO will reconvene its expert committee on Thursday to decide whether to declare the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. There are now 6,065 confirmed cases of viral pneumonia caused by the virus and 132 deaths, all of them in China.

Just 68 cases have been confirmed outside China, in 15 countries, but in three countries, Germany, Vietnam and Japan, there has been human-to-human transmission, raising fears over the spread of the disease.

"The whole world needs to be on alert now. The whole world needs to take action and be ready for any cases that come from the epicentre or other epicentre that becomes established," said Dr Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO health emergencies programme...


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/29/whole-world-must-be-ready-to-deal-with-coronavirus-says-who