In recent times The World Health Organization has made it clear that the Coronavirus coming out of Wuhan, China is now a global health emergency. With over 11,000 people affected so far, things are spreading quickly.
While it is rare for announcements like this to be made, they are important for really getting the support we need together to get things like this under control. Now for those who might somehow not know, the coronavirus is a deadly virus coming out of Wuhan, China. It has taken many lives and has tons of people sick. While the majority of those affected are in China the virus has spread to at least 20 other countries so far. It has an up to 14 day incubation period and is spread from human to human. This being the first human to human transmissive version of the virus itself.
According to CNBC WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as follows regarding the outbreak itself during a new conference days ago:
“Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen that has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak,”
“We must act together now to limit the spread.”
“This is the time for facts, not fear. This is the time for science, not rumors. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma.”
“To the people of China and to all of those around the world who have been affected by this outbreak, we want you to know the world stands with you,”
“We must remember that these are people, not numbers.”
Now that this emergency has been declared Tedros is able to make recommendations to other nations in order to try to get things under control more properly. For instance, he can suggest travel or trade bans and put together different resources for those who need them. This declaration is to help make sure the numbers of cases in countries outside of China do not increase to the point that they are present in China. While right now the numbers in other countries are quite low, if things are not done to keep them low, they will skyrocket quickly.
CNBC reported as follows giving an update on the topic:
The number of confirmed cases is likely to grow, health officials said. There are more than 12,100 suspected cases in China that are either awaiting test results or haven’t been tested yet, on top of the 8,137 that have already been confirmed in the country, according to WHO and China state media data released Thursday. Although the coronavirus doesn’t appear to be as deadly as SARS, which had a mortality rate of about 11%, it is spreading significantly faster. The WHO data shows there are roughly 1,400 people in China who are severely ill.
The illness produces a range of symptoms, with about 20% of the patients developing severe illnesses, including pneumonia and respiratory failure, he said. WHO officials said it’s transmitted through human contact, in droplets through sneezing or through touching germs left on inanimate objects.
WHO doesn’t enact global health emergencies lightly. The international health agency has only applied the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in the mid-2000s. The last time WHO declared a global health emergency was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people. The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu, and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.
To learn more about all of this please check out the video below. What do you think about all of this? I for one think preparing for the worst is our best option.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-update-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/who-declares-china-coronavirus-a-global-health-emergency.html
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-wuhan-coronavirus/669458