The head of the World Health Organization says that the body did not waste time in repose to the coronavirus outbreak as it responded quickly and effectively. The international body has faced criticism over its handling of the crisis, especially the US president.
Tedros said that the WHO declared the coronavirus as a pandemic on January 30, which gave countries plenty of time to prepare themselves for the outbreak. He added that at that time, there were not many cases outside China; a total of 82 cases were reported outside China.
But as of Saturday, there are more than 3.2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 234,000 deaths worldwide. The US president has blamed the WHO for its response to the coronavirus and accused the body of making China centric policies.
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Trump threatened to halt the funding for the international body. On Friday, talking to a press brief, Dr. Tedros briefly offered a defense of the organization’s response to the virus and how it saved the world from a disaster and still working to curb the spread.
The WHO said it used the time on hand very wisely in the early stages of the outbreak in China. It also visited the country to learn and study more about the virus and its origins. Tedros said the coronavirus remains a public health emergency of international concern after the three months of its declaration.
He expressed concerns for the countries with weak and beleaguered health care system and warned that an outbreak there could result in catastrophes. A global public health emergency is, without any doubt, an unusual declaration and needs a unified global response to the crisis.
Health officials in Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya had seen a worrying acceleration in the infection rate. The WHO also warned the countries which were moving forward, easing the social distancing restrictions and stressed the importance of monitor the jumps in a new wave of infection.
When asked about the WHO relations with the United States, he replied that the body is in constant contact with the country and assisting them in the fight against coronavirus. Meanwhile, US President Trump appeared to undercut his intelligence agencies over the origins and role of Beijing in the coronavirus outbreak.
On Friday, the body also addressed the virus origins theories and said that many scientists had studied the genetic sequences of the virus. The studies suggest that the virus was not not-made but natural. It also insisted on knowing more about the animal as a host of the virus and animal to human transmission.
