International epidemic remains severe, WHO maintains highest alert

Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, May 1st. Summary: The International epidemic remains severe, WHO maintains highest alert

Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Qu

The World Health Organization announced on the 1st that in view of the current global situation of the new crown epidemic, the pandemic still constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern” and has put forward a series of updated recommendations to deal with the epidemic.

The epidemic is still severe

The WHO Emergency Committee met for several hours on April 30 to discuss and evaluate the current status of the global new crown epidemic. The WHO announced on May 1 that the committee unanimously agreed that the new crown epidemic still constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern”.

Three months ago, on January 30, WHO declared that the new crown epidemic constituted a “public health emergency of international concern” and issued the highest level of WHO alert.

At present, although many places around the world are “unblocking” or plan to gradually resume social and economic activities as the epidemic slows down. But judging from the numbers, the epidemic is far from the point of relaxation. The daily epidemic report released by the WHO on the 1st showed that as of 10 o’clock on the 1st Central European Time (16:00 Beijing time), the number of confirmed cases of new crown worldwide increased by 84,771 compared with the previous day, reaching 3,175,207; the number of deaths was compared with the previous day. An increase of 6403 cases reached 224172 cases.

WHO Director-General Tan Desai recently warned: “The new crown pandemic is far from over. WHO continues to pay attention to the growing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries.”

Need to be updated

Didier Usan, chairman of the Emergency Committee, said at a press conference held on the 1st that the committee has put forward a series of updated recommendations for the next stage of response to the new crown epidemic, but he emphasized three of them.

For the WHO, the committee first recommended increasing assistance to countries with weaker public health systems and countries vulnerable to the epidemic, and pay attention to preventing possible food supply interruptions; second, for the resumption of international passenger transport after the epidemic, especially air travel And so on to formulate safety strategies and guidance; third, to revise recommendations for travel measures, to strike a balance between appropriate travel measures and preventing the spread of the new coronavirus.

For the member states of the WHO, Usan first calls on all countries to continue to support the WHO’s anti-epidemic leadership; secondly, countries should cooperate with WHO and other partners to use all available technologies and methods to stop the spread of the new coronavirus; Third, speed up research related to the new crown, because there is still little knowledge about the spread of the virus, and there are no preventive vaccines and no licensed therapies.

In addition, the committee also recommends that WHO and member states cooperate to strengthen the construction of the global food supply chain, protect workers in the food industry, and properly manage the food market; improve the surveillance system, strengthen case identification, testing, isolation, and tracing of case contacts And quarantine, actively mobilize communities to track contacts of cases; ensure that personal protective equipment, diagnostic equipment, biomedical equipment, etc. are fairly distributed globally; deal with rumors and misinformation, and continue to discuss the evolution of the new crown pandemic, how to reduce spread, save lives, etc. Questions regularly exchange information, provide guidance and make suggestions.

Global fight against the epidemic

On April 29, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that WHO has acted quickly and decisively since the beginning of the epidemic, responded and issued a warning to the world. Efforts are being made to provide countries with the key strategies, solutions and materials needed in the coming weeks and months. He once again called for global unity to fight the epidemic, “humans should unite to defeat this virus more than ever.”

Earlier, Tedros said at a press conference in early April that in recent months, “the whole world has become completely unrecognizable because of the epidemic.” The grim situation tells people to “isolate” the idea of ​​using the virus as a political bargaining chip. He said: “If there is no unity, any country, no matter how developed its medical system, will also fall into greater trouble and crisis.”

In response to the source of the new coronavirus, Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO Health Emergency Project, said at a press conference on the 1st that the WHO has repeatedly listened to the opinions of several experts who have carefully studied the gene sequence of the new coronavirus and the virus itself to determine the new coronavirus. From nature. Tedros said at a press conference on the 1st that the WHO should work with the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to work hard to identify the animal source of the new coronavirus.

On the 1st, Tan Desai once again called on all countries to pay attention to the recommendations given by the WHO Emergency Committee and the WHO. These recommendations will be updated at any time according to the situation.

According to the “International Health Regulations”, the committee will convene again in 90 days to evaluate the new crown epidemic, and it can be held in advance if necessary.