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Wuhan Coronavirus Is Spreading, but W.H.O. Says It Is Not an Emergency Coronavirus Is Spreading, but W.H.O. Says It Is Not a Global Emergency
(about 1 hour later)
The World Health Organization on Thursday decided not to declare the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a global emergency despite the spread of the dangerous respiratory infection from China to at least five other countries.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declined to declare a global emergency as a deadly respiratory virus spread from China to at least five other countries. Agency officials explained that although the disease has reached beyond China, the number of cases in other countries is still relatively small, and the disease does not seem to be spreading within those countries. Of 584 cases now reported, 575 of them and all the deaths have been in China, according to the W.H.O.
Less than a month after the first few cases of illness were reported in Wuhan, China, at least 600 people are known to have been infected, and at least 18 have died. Most who died had underlying health problems, and many were older than 60. “At this time, there is no evidence of human to human transmission outside China,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the W.H.O.’s director general, said at a news conference in Geneva. “That doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”
Carried by travelers, the virus has also reached Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Investigators in other countries, including Mexico, are evaluating suspected cases. “Make no mistake,” he said. “This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.”
The committee weighing the decision was divided, its chairman, Dr. Didier Houssin, said during the briefing. Some felt the course of the outbreak warranted an emergency declaration, but others said it that was too soon to decide, citing the limited number of cases in countries outside China as well as China’s efforts to contain the virus.
Dr. Houssin also said it was important to consider the international perception of an emergency declaration, and its impact on the people in the country at the center of the outbreak.
Dr. Tedros said he would not hesitate to ask the W.H.O. to reconsider declaring an emergency, even within a matter of days, if more evidence emerges to prove that the outbreak poses a global threat.
“There is still a lot we don’t know,” Dr. Tedros said. “We don’t know the source, we don’t know how easily it spreads, we don’t understand its clinical features or severity.”
The new infection is caused by a coronavirus, from the same family that caused epidemics of SARS and MERS, which have killed hundreds of people in dozens of countries.
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So far, he said, about a quarter of the people infected had become severely ill, but most others had milder symptoms. Most who died had underlying health problems, and many were older than 60.
Carried by travelers, the virus has reached Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Investigators in other countries, including Mexico, are evaluating suspected cases.
Officials in China have closed transportation links from and within Wuhan, and are imposing travel restrictions on other affected cities. These steps have significantly escalated the country’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus just days before the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions travel in and out of the country.Officials in China have closed transportation links from and within Wuhan, and are imposing travel restrictions on other affected cities. These steps have significantly escalated the country’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus just days before the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions travel in and out of the country.
Dr. Tedros said that he hoped that the measures China took would be effective and short-lived.
Only five global public health emergency declarations have been made in the past:Only five global public health emergency declarations have been made in the past:
In 2009, for pandemic influenza;In 2009, for pandemic influenza;
In 2014, for a polio resurgence in several countries;In 2014, for a polio resurgence in several countries;
Again in 2014, for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa;Again in 2014, for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa;
In 2016, for the Zika virus epidemic;In 2016, for the Zika virus epidemic;
And in 2019, for an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.And in 2019, for an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The decisions are fraught. Health authorities do not want to cry wolf by raising alarms about an illness that turns out not to be severe — or to ignore a real threat. If they act relatively early in an outbreak, as in this case, they may lack key information about the severity and contagiousness of the disease.The decisions are fraught. Health authorities do not want to cry wolf by raising alarms about an illness that turns out not to be severe — or to ignore a real threat. If they act relatively early in an outbreak, as in this case, they may lack key information about the severity and contagiousness of the disease.
There are political and economic considerations as well. Declaring an emergency signals to governments that the situation is serious and that international help and cooperation are needed to contain the outbreak.There are political and economic considerations as well. Declaring an emergency signals to governments that the situation is serious and that international help and cooperation are needed to contain the outbreak.
Control measures may save not only lives, but money: the SARS epidemic, caused by a related coronavirus in 2002 and 2003, cost the global economy $30 billion to $100 billion, according to an article published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Control measures may save not only lives, but money: the SARS epidemic, caused by a related coronavirus in 2002 and 2003, cost the global economy $30 billion to $100 billion, according to an article published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
But declaring an emergency may stigmatize the country struggling with an outbreak, and spur costly bans on travel and trade by other countries, even if health authorities discourage those actions.But declaring an emergency may stigmatize the country struggling with an outbreak, and spur costly bans on travel and trade by other countries, even if health authorities discourage those actions.
“I think there is a general sense that we need to go back and revisit public health emergencies and what they mean,” said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. “I think it’s not clear, do they or do they not bring more resources, or more controversy?”“I think there is a general sense that we need to go back and revisit public health emergencies and what they mean,” said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. “I think it’s not clear, do they or do they not bring more resources, or more controversy?”
The new infection is caused by a coronavirus, from the same family that caused epidemics of SARS and MERS, which have killed hundreds of people in dozens of countries.
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