02-29-2020, 04:58 AM
https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1233411869110460416
World Health Organization leaders gave their most expansive explanation to date on why they’re not yet declaring the coronavirus a pandemic. And from the reasons they gave, there appears to be a good chance WHO may never officially declare it a pandemic, even though many experts think the virus may have already reached that level.
WHO officials said in a Friday briefing that declaring a pandemic would be tantamount to throwing in the towel on containing the virus and signaling to governments that they should focus instead on mitigating its effects. WHO officials said they want countries to pursue containment and mitigation simultaneously, which is the main reason they are not declaring a pandemic.
“To accept that mitigation is the only option is to accept that the virus cannot be stopped,” said Michael Ryan, WHO director for health emergencies. “And we’ve seen evidence from China that this virus can be significantly curbed in its spread if robust measures are taken.”
As the virus has spread from China to Europe and the Middle East and beyond, there are clear instances where containment has failed. But WHO officials said there are also examples where containment has succeeded and they don’t want countries to stop trying. They pointed to countries such as China and Singapore, where new cases have declined, and other countries that detected only one or two cases and have not reported any since.
Public health officials define containment as steps to interrupt transmission, like tracing patient contacts, isolation and quarantine. Mitigation is when you accept that you cannot prevent the virus from spreading, and instead focus on treating patients, vaccines and reducing the strain on health systems and society.
WHO officials said that even if containment efforts in some places fail, they are slowing down the virus and giving countries much-needed time to prepare.
“We need to keep this virus slowed down because health systems around the world, and I mean north and south, are just not ready,” Ryan said. He added: “And we need to maybe stop asking ourselves the question, 'Is it a pandemic or is it not Is it containment? Is it mitigation? … What it is is time to act.”
World Health Organization leaders gave their most expansive explanation to date on why they’re not yet declaring the coronavirus a pandemic. And from the reasons they gave, there appears to be a good chance WHO may never officially declare it a pandemic, even though many experts think the virus may have already reached that level.
WHO officials said in a Friday briefing that declaring a pandemic would be tantamount to throwing in the towel on containing the virus and signaling to governments that they should focus instead on mitigating its effects. WHO officials said they want countries to pursue containment and mitigation simultaneously, which is the main reason they are not declaring a pandemic.
“To accept that mitigation is the only option is to accept that the virus cannot be stopped,” said Michael Ryan, WHO director for health emergencies. “And we’ve seen evidence from China that this virus can be significantly curbed in its spread if robust measures are taken.”
As the virus has spread from China to Europe and the Middle East and beyond, there are clear instances where containment has failed. But WHO officials said there are also examples where containment has succeeded and they don’t want countries to stop trying. They pointed to countries such as China and Singapore, where new cases have declined, and other countries that detected only one or two cases and have not reported any since.
Public health officials define containment as steps to interrupt transmission, like tracing patient contacts, isolation and quarantine. Mitigation is when you accept that you cannot prevent the virus from spreading, and instead focus on treating patients, vaccines and reducing the strain on health systems and society.
WHO officials said that even if containment efforts in some places fail, they are slowing down the virus and giving countries much-needed time to prepare.
“We need to keep this virus slowed down because health systems around the world, and I mean north and south, are just not ready,” Ryan said. He added: “And we need to maybe stop asking ourselves the question, 'Is it a pandemic or is it not Is it containment? Is it mitigation? … What it is is time to act.”