WHO declares coronavirus public health emergency
By Muizat Hameed
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the deadly coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency worthy of international concern.
This declaration was made at an emergency meeting held on Thursday 30th January, 2020 in Geneva.
WHO was compelled to make this declaration after considering the rising numbers of victims including the evidence of person to person transmission in and outside of China.
WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters that, “WHO leadership called the committee back together due to the potential for a much larger outbreak.”
As defined by the World Health Organization, “Public health emergency of international concern is an extraordinary event that constitutes a public health risk to other states through the international spread of diseases and potentially requires a coordinated international response.”
He mentioned that previous emergencies have included Ebola, Zika and H1N1.
It has been also been declared that the reported cases of coronavirus have exceeded the number of SARS infections worldwide.
With about 8,137 confirmed cases in mainland China alone, coronavirus cases have exceeded SARS 8098 total number of victim during the 2002 – 2003 epidemics.
