The World Health Organization – a specialized agency of the United Nations concerned with the world’s public health – has officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Since the first detection, COVID-19 virus has infected more than 127,000 people across the globe. The coronavirus has taken the lives of over 4,700 humans and around 69,000 people have recovered after being infected.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, made an announcement on Wednesday saying, “WHO is deeply concerned by the alarming levels of the coronavirus spread, severity & inaction, & expects to see the number of cases, deaths & affected countries climb even higher. Therefore, we made the assessment that COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”
Pandemic by definition is a disease that has spread across the vast region and speaking at the COVID-19 media briefing, the WHO Director-General said:
“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”
The briefing further states that “Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change what the WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do.”
The World Health Organization is continuously working for people all around the world concerning their health and safety. In the COVID-19 media briefing, Dr. Tedros said:
“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock he and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have, therefore, made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”
WHO says COVID-19 a controlled pandemic
The World Health Organization declares that they will never give up on this pandemic as they “are not at the mercy of this virus.” The organization says, “We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time.”
WHO aims to slow down the Coronavirus
The World Health Organization denotes that the spread of the infection can slow down, and its bad impact on public health reduces with the use of universally applicable actions.
The specialized agency of the United Nations exerts on working across the societies to identify people who are sick and force to bring them to medication. The agency – WHO – is also taking action for preparing hospitals and clinics to manage a surge in patients and is training the health workers for dealing with the problematic situation.
WHO is contacting every country and asking them to continue their efforts to limit the number of cases and ask them to take every action possible to reduce the impact of coronavirus at every opportunity.
The organization, WHO, says that it will continue to work for all countries, partners, and the expert network and will provide people with every critical information required to protect themselves and others.Â
WHO was resisting to declare the Coronavirus a pandemic before
The United Nation’s specialized health agency restrained to call the COVID-19 outbreak an epidemic to prevent any panic situation. Officials at the World Health Organization did not see the global coronavirus outbreak constituting a pandemic. Yet, WHO said the virus has absolute pandemic potential and suggested all the containment measures that help control the spread.
Dr. Tedros said, “We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic.”
Later, when experts pointed out the severe conditions in Italy, South Korea, and Iran, the WHO called it a viral threat that is rapid climbing.
Earlier this week, on March 9, the Director-General of WHO declared the viral threat a fact saying, “the threat of a pandemic has become very real.”
United States plunged with the COVID-19 pandemic, bans travel from Europe
Donald Trump, President of United States, speaking from Oval Office, ordered to ban the travel from Europe for at least 30 days. The suspension will begin from this Friday imposing a ban on foreigners, exempting American citizens.Â
An advisory issued from the State Department asks Americans to reconsider travel to other countries due to the outbreak of coronavirus all over the world. If, in case of urgent travel, the State advisory asks travelers to review and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for the prevention of the novel virus.Â
READ: Google asks staff in North America to work from home due to coronavirus
The sad news is that the National Basketball Association has also suspended its season after a Utah Jazz player – reportedly Rudy Gobert – was tested positive for coronavirus right before his game. The final match between Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday canceled after the announcement.Â
See how people can protect themselves from Coronavirus in this video:
Featured image: Map of coronavirus cases worldwide on March 2, 2020. Credit: John Hopkins University
