Coronavirus outbreak not yet pandemic

Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told a press conference the coronavirus outbreak is not a pandemic.

He said: “A pandemic is a unique situation which we believe that all citizens on the planet will likely be exposed to a virus within a defined period of time.

“If this was influenza, we would have probably have called this as a pandemic by now but what we’ve seen of this virus is that with containment measures and a robust public health response the course of this epidemic or multiple epidemics can be significantly altered.

“To declare a pandemic; it is unhelpful to do that when you’re still trying to contain a disease.”

He added: “If we say there is a pandemic of coronavirus we are essentially accepting every human on the planet will be exposed to that virus and the data does not support that as yet and China have clearly shown that is not necessarily the natural outcome of this event if we take action.

“That does not have to be the history of this event but if we don’t take action…that may be a future we have to experience and we have to endure.”

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Does this instill any confidence that WHO has a clue?

David DeGerolamo