Coronavirus: Global health emergency declared by World Health Organisation, reversing earlier decision on outbreak
- Decision comes amid growing criticism of the UN health agency’s move last week not to declare the outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’
- Disease is spreading steadily overseas as cases rise inside China
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global public health emergency over the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus on Thursday, citing the potential of the virus to spread to countries not prepared to deal with the contagion.
Declaring the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasised multiple times during a press conference in Geneva that the move was not “a vote of no confidence” in China’s ability to control the outbreak. The latest PHEIC is only the WHO’s sixth since the UN agency was given the power to make such declarations in 2005.
“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems and which are ill prepared to deal with it,” Tedros said.
“The vast majority of cases outside of China have a travel history to Wuhan or contact with someone with a travel history to Wuhan. We don’t know what sort of damage this virus could do if it were to spread to a country with a weaker health system.”
Alongside his declaration of a global public health emergency, the WHO chief also outlined a number of recommendations to countries as they respond to the contagion’s spread, including accelerating the development of a vaccine, reviewing preparedness plans, combating the spread of misinformation, and sharing data with the United Nations body.
But WHO officials also warned that drastic restrictions in travel and trade were not necessary, and said they opposed any move to close borders with China or restrict Chinese travellers’ access. Though they did not mention Russia by name, their remarks came soon after Moscow announced it was closing sections of the Russia-China border and suspending visas for Chinese visitors.