WHO Declares Coronavirus a Global Health Emergency

On Thursday evening, coronavirus was declared a global health emergency at the WHO meeting in Geneva.

The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported that this decision by no means says that the organization has no confidence in China. He actually praised the "extraordinary measures” that the country has taken to stop the virus from spreading.

He instead highlighted the situation in other countries as the reason for declaring it a world health emergency.

"The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," Ghebreyesus said.

WHO’s main concern now is that it could spread to countries with weaker health systems.

With the death toll hitting a high number of 170 in China, the WHO reported that there had been 98 cases in 18 countries outside of the country, but no deaths. Adding on to the concern is the fact that there have been eight cases of human-to-human infection in Germany, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States.

This is the sixth time that WHO has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The first five were Swine flu (2009), Polio (2014), Zika (2016), and Ebola (2014 and 2019).


By Nini Dakhundaridze

Image source: ABC News.