The Geneva-based World Health Organization has declared the novel coronavirus a global emergency.
WHO's Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has emphasized the reason for the declaration before the weekend “is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries.”
At least 213 people in China, mostly in Hubei province where the virus emerged, have died and nearly 10,000 individuals nationwide are suspected to have been infected with the virus.
Other countries—from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, Middle East, Australia and the Philippines—have separately reported cases from a low of one in the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines, to a high of 14 in Thailand.
Tedros praised China during the news conference for its swift, transparent and effective response to the “unprecedented outbreak.”
“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries,” Tedros said, pointing out “Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, which are ill prepared to deal with it.”
The new infection figure outranks the tally of worldwide cases of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) during the 2002 and 2003 outbreak. SARS had nearly 8,100 confirmed infections and killed nearly 800 people.
As the deadly virus spreads beyond China's land borders and shorelines, several airlines have started suspending flights to the world's most populated nation and others have cut down the number of flights, while some have stopped flying to major cities.
There is this lingering fear that many low-and middle-income countries don't have the tools to spot or contain what Tedros described as “unprecedented outbreak” met with “unprecedented response.”
The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa—the largest in human history—showed how easily poorer countries can be overwhelmed by such outbreaks.
And if novel coronavirus gets a significant foothold in such places, then it would be incredibly difficult to contain.
It is true we are not at that rung yet—with 99 percent in China and the WHO is convinced the country can control the outbreak there.
But WHO's declaration of the global emergency allows it to support lower- and middle-income countries to strengthen their disease surveillance—and prepare them for cases.
We can immediately pick up from there: To equip ourselves with the necessary tools to check the virus.