Coronavirus warning: Senior WHO doctor issues dire prediction – ‘Outbreak still building’
A LEADING World Health Organisation (WHO) official, Dr Margaret Harris, warned the COVID-19 coronavirus will continue to “intensify” around the world in the coming weeks.
By SVAR NANAN-SEN
Express.co.uk
Sun, Mar 8, 2020
The WHO spokeswoman told the BBC’s Andrew Marr the coronavirus outbreak is “still building”. Dr Margaret Harris pointed to the rapid growth of cases in both Iran and Italy as particularly “concerning” events.
Dr Margaret Harris replied: “It is indeed still building up, we are seeing particularly concerning events in Italy and Iran.
“We are seeing continued community transmission human to human in a lot of countries.
“It is still continuing to intensify.”
Mr Marr said: We are focussing on older people, is that because older people have a lower immune system or because they have another condition which makes it more likely for them to be killed by coronavirus?
Dr Margaret Harris responded: “It is not completely clear, for instance as I mentioned with the flu that affects young people, children, pregnant women.”
The BBC presenter then asked: “Which coronavirus does not so much as flu?”
Dr Margaret Harris replied: “That is exactly right, this virus has a predilection for people in the older age groups and certainly if you’re in any age group and you have another illness, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, you are in the high-risk group and you must treat yourself as such.”
Mr Marr said: “If it is killing older people with other conditions why is it also killing young doctors in China?”
Dr Margaret Harris responded: “Remember that a young doctor from China who has worked three weeks none stop, that hasn’t had time to eat or sleep, is not in a good place
“So you would have to go through the details of that person’s illness or what went on before, you may find that the person had other illnesses.”
There have currently been more than 107,000 cases of COVID-19 across the globe.
