Coronavirus: WHO declares a public health emergency Doris Obinna

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declare that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
The director-general, WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision after a meeting of its Emergency Committee on Thursday, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus spreading to some 18 countries.
The director-general in a news conference in Geneva said that recent weeks have witnessed an unprecedented outbreak which has been met by an unprecedented response.
According to him, the main reason for the declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries.
“Our 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”
“Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak
He however noted that WHO is working diligently with national and international public health partners to bring the outbreak under control as fast as possible.
“In total, there are now 7834 confirmed 2019nCoV cases, including 7736 in China, representing almost 99 per cent of all reported cases worldwide. 170 people have lost their lives to this outbreak, all of them in China.
“We must remember that these are people, not numbers,” he stated.