Coronavirus: WHO, Chinese heads weigh next steps

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), met with Chinese leaders in Beijing today and discussed next steps in the battle against the novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

One of the Chinese leaders the WHO director-general met with was President Xi Jinping. The heads shared the latest information on the virus outbreak and reiterated the commitment to bring it under control.

According to a press release the WHO emailed to the members of the press, WHO Health Emergencies Programme executive director Dr. Mike Ryan and WHO regional director Dr. Takeshi Kasai joined Dr. Tedros.

Other Chinese leaders Dr. Tedros met were Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei and State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

“The National Health Commission presented China’s strong public health capacities and resources to respond and manage respiratory disease outbreaks,” said the release US and Global News also received from the WHO. “The discussions focused on continued collaboration on containment measures in Wuhan, public health measures in other cities and provinces, conducting further studies on the severity and transmissibility of the virus, continuing to share data, and for China to share biological material with WHO.”

WHO added that these actions will further scientific understanding of the coronavirus and contribute to the creation of medical countermeasures like treatments and vaccines.

It was agreed that the WHO will send global specialists to China very soon to collaborate with Chinese counterparts on raising understanding of the coronavirus to lead international response.

Dr. Tedros commented, “Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO’s highest priority. We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus. WHO is working closely with the government on measures to understand the virus and limit transmission. WHO will keep working side-by-side with China and all other countries to protect health and keep people safe.”

The WHO mission came as the number of confirmed 2019-nCoV cases increased to more than 4500 internationally on January 28, with the highest number being in China. The number of reported deaths globally is 106 as of the 28th.

“The WHO delegation highly appreciated the actions China has implemented in response to the outbreak, its speed in identifying the virus and openness to sharing information with WHO and other countries,” said the WHO news release.

The outbreak’s source and spread in China are not still known. Most cases to date have been milder, with around 20% of the infected people experiencing severe illness.

WHO said it is continually monitoring developments and the director-general can reconvene the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee on very short notice as required.

“Committee members are on stand-by and are informed regularly of developments,” said the WHO.

Image credit - M. Jacobson - Gonzalez - ITU Pictures from Geneva, Switzerland (Source) (CC BY 2.0)