GENEVA, Jan. 22 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday night extended to Thursday its emergency talks on whether the novel coronavirus outbreak in China constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
"There was an excellent discussion during the meeting today, but it was also clear that to proceed, we need more information," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference after a closed-door meeting of an Emergency Committee.
"For that reason, I have decided to ask the Emergency Committee to meet again tomorrow to continue the discussion," added Tedros.
"The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence," the WHO chief noted.
CHINA'S MEASURES COMMENDED
Tedros said he was very impressed by the detail and depth of China's presentation of the situation of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
He also appreciated the cooperation of Ma Xiaowei, head of China's National Health Commission, who he had spoken with directly during the last few days and weeks. The intervention of the Chinese leadership, said the WHO chief, has been invaluable.
The WHO chief appreciated China's immediate detecting and sharing of the sequencing of the virus, so that other countries like Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand are able to get most of the virus quickly.
Actions were also taken immediately especially on the market in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the first case of novel coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV) was identified.
Those actions were followed by other very strong measures including halting flights and trains out of Wuhan from Thursday. Tedros believed that those actions will "minimize the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally."
"At the same time, China invited our experts on the ground in Wuhan, so that we have more information to convene tomorrow," added Tedros, who encouraged China to continue information sharing and transparency, because it will not only help China, but also help prevent it from spreading internationally.
PHEIC DELIBERATIONS
The PHEIC is defined by the WHO as an extraordinary event that is determined to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response.
Didier Houssin, chair of the Emergency Committee and an adviser to France's national health security agency, told reporters that the views of the members of the committee were split in declaring the novel coronavirus outbreak as a PHEIC.
"The fatality rate is clearly one of the question marks which was raised during the meeting of the committee. If we refer to the previous coronaviruses, the rates were much higher than it appeals to be today. We would like to have more information, because it is a very important factor to decide whether it is a major public threat or not," said Houssin.
Houssin said the Emergency Committee formulated a series of recommendations concerning the improvement of the containment and mitigation measures which are not only important in China and also what measures should be taken by member states.
"Considering the rapidly evolving situation, we suggest to Director-General that the meeting re-convene very early if necessary," added Houssin.
Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said at the press conference that "there are many unknowns to address in this event including clinical severity and the true extent and nature of disease transmission."
"The priorities right now, notwithstanding the deliberations of the committee: The member states affected have implemented a number of control measures. These have focused, and WHO agrees, the primary issue is to limit human to human transmission," said Ryan.
GRE Issue写作高分经验分享
GRE高分作文经验:列出提纲方法
GRE作文备考书籍推荐:黄皮书
正确看待GRE作文高频试题得高分
GRE写作模仿范文有妙招
GRE写作要点:6类万能例子
GRE写作技巧:Active模板
GRE写作黄金经典句型:知识篇+教育篇
GRE写作中如何引用名人名言?
GRE写作范文点析:重辩证思维
GRE作文中Argument经典模板句式
中国学生GRE写作三大逻辑问题失分点
利用GRE作文提纲两步走
GRE作文八大要点 勇夺高分
GRE作文雷同现象浅析:培养独立思考能力
GRE issue作文新题库解析:掌权者五年后让位
GRE写作模板及写作策略:Active模板
GRE写作谬误:逻辑问题最多
不断的模仿 短时间提高GRE写作能力
GRE issue作文新题库解析:国民的安乐
GRE issue写作范文:独立思考
GRE作文8大高分技巧
GRE Arguement高分写作方法分段讲解
GRE作文高分:逻辑思路能力
GRE作文10大论证技巧介绍
不怕雷 巧用GRE写作模板
GRE满分写作Argument4篇范文
GRE写作技巧:利用“小词”拿高分
GRE写作文章五部分要点需掌握
GRE issue作文新题库解析:国家领导与国民安乐
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |