WHO warns countries will have to ‘live with’ coronavirus until vaccines emerges

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva on Friday that while developing a vaccine will take at least 18 months, he announced that Norway and Spain were startied drug trials on Friday.

They are part of a 45-country WHO study that tests whether the COVID-19 viral disease can be treated with medications that were developed for HIV and malaria patients.

While the trials are under way, the WHO chief warned against using any of the existing drugs on COVID-19 patients.

“The history of medicine is strewn with examples of drugs that worked on paper, or in a test tube, but didn’t work in humans or were actually harmful,” Tedros said.

“We must follow the evidence. There are no shortcuts,” he added.

See also: WHO cautions “We’re only at the beginning of this fight”

The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief said Friday that widespread testing for the new coronavirus is crucial and countries should not be faulted for reporting higher numbers of cases. He also appealed for a shift toward public health strategies that allow us “to live with this virus” until a vaccine emerges.

The comments from Dr. Michael Ryan suggested a change in mindset at WHO and the U.N. health agency’s increased resignation that the virus first identified in China late last year will be around for a while. The number of people infected worldwide exceeded 585,000 by Friday night.

“At this point, no one can predict how long this epidemic is going to last,” Ryan said during a WHO news conference. “We are entering and moving to an uncertain future. … Many countries around the world are just beginning the cycle of this epidemic.”

 

 

Read more via Al Jazeera/The Washington Post