WHO Chief Warns Coronavirus Is 'a Very Grave Threat' to the World, Gives It a New Name
The coronavirus rampaging through China has now claimed more than 1,000 lives in that country as the World Health Organization fights to contain the damage globally.
“With 99 percent of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, told a research and innovation forum meant to deal with the virus in Geneva on Tuesday.
“With 99% of #2019nCoV cases in #China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world”-@DrTedros
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 11, 2020
Ghebreyesus urged nations and experts to “use the window of opportunity that we have now.”
The WHO is concerned over cases in which the virus is transmitted to people who have had no contact with anyone coming from China, fearing that could lead to an even greater spread of the disease.
“It could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire,” Ghebreyesus told reporters earlier this week, according to Reuters.
“We have to invest in preparedness,” he said, CNN reported.
“I have a great concern that if this virus makes it to a weaker health system it will create havoc,” Ghebreyesus said, referring to nations without strong public health systems.
He said just because that has not happened so far, “It doesn’t mean it will not happen — it may.”
The WHO on Tuesday also gave the virus a name, COVID-19.
“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, or an individual or group of people,” Ghebreyesus told reporters, according to NBC News.
As of Wednesday, 1,113 people in China had died from the virus, with more than 40,000 people infected in that nation alone, according to The New York Times.
One person has died of the virus in the Philippines, and another in Hong Kong.
There have been 393 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 24 countries outside of China.
The number of cases in the U.S. rose to 13 with the announcement that one American who had been evacuated from Wuhan, China, tested positive for the virus, CBS News reported.
The individual was among 167 people on a State Department flight out of China.
The patient had been initially released from isolation after testing negative for COVID-19, but has since returned to a hospital.
About 24 Americans aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is in quarantine off the coast of Japan, have also tested positive for the virus, They are among 174 people on the ship who have tested positive for the virus.
A report from Imperial College London estimated that 1 percent of those infected with COVID-19 will die. The report noted that it was based on limited and emerging data.
“Understanding the likely impact of the unfolding pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus on human health will be critical to informing the decisions made by countries in the coming weeks in how best to respond to this new public health threat,” Professor Neil Ferguson, a co-author of the report, said.
“Our estimates — while subject to much uncertainty due to the limited data currently available — suggest that the impact of the unfolding epidemic may be comparable to the major influenza pandemics of the twentieth century.”
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