WHO warns world ‘not ready’ for coronavirus pandemic
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At the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Bruce Aylward, who headed an international expert mission to China, hailed the drastic quarantine and containment measures taken by the country.
But he told reporters that other nations were “simply not ready” to contain the outbreak.
“You have to be ready to manage this at a larger scale… and it has to be done fast,” Aylward said.
Dr. Aylward said responding swiftly and aggressively to contain outbreaks and treat those infected was paramount.
The announcement comes as infections surge in Iran, Italy and South Korea. But the number of cases in China has begun to decline — for now.
The virus has killed 2,715 people and infected over 78,000 in China. There were 52 more deaths reported on Wednesday — the lowest in three weeks — with no fatalities outside the epicentre in central Hubei province.
“There’s no question that China’s bold approach to the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of what was a rapidly escalating and continues to be a deadly epidemic,” said Bruce Aylward, a Canadian doctor and epidemiologist who has overseen international campaigns to fight Ebola and polio and who led the W.H.O. delegation.
There are concerns, however, that as people begin returning to work in China, the virus could flare up again.
