Coronavirus latest: WHO could announce global health emergency over human transmission
CORONAVIRUS could be declared a global health emergency as the World Health Organisation Executive Director stated that 20 percent of cases are severe and the source of pathogen is still unclear.
By BRIAN MCGLEENON
Express.co.uk
Wed, Jan 29, 2020
Director-General of the World Health Organization Doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced: “I have decided to reconvene the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the new Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) tomorrow to advise me on whether the current outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.” The WHO have recategorised Coronavirus from being a “moderate” threat to being a “high risk” threat. The Director general added: “The World Health Organisation deeply regrets the error in this week’s situation report, which inserted the word “moderate” inaccurately in the Coronavirus global risk assessment. This was a human error in preparing the report. I have repeatedly stated the high risk of the outbreak.”
This news comes as the number of confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus has overtaken the 2003 SARS outbreak inside of mainland China, as multiple countries evacuated their citizens from the city at the heart of the outbreak. As of Wednesday, there were 6,061 confirmed cases of the virus in mainland China, including 132 deaths, according to Chinese officials. The number of cases grew by around 1,500 from Tuesday, a more than 30 percent increase. The figures do not include Hong Kong and Macau, both of which have reported a small number of cases. There have also been at least 91 cases of the virus reported outside mainland China.
More to follow…
