WHO says pandemic is “controllable”

The new coronavirus pandemic is “manageable”, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said today, during a meeting with member states at the headquarters of the UN specialized agency in Geneva.

“It’s one pandemic manageable” but “you can not fight a virus if you do not know where you are. This means that a VIGILA is required INSTANCE robust to find, isolate, test and treat each case to break the chains of transmission,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the meeting.

The official defended that countries should have a “global approach (…) adapted to their situation, with containment as a central pillar” and called on countries to “find the right balance between protecting health, preventing economic disturbances and and respect human rights “.

For the first time since the beginning of the epidemic, which began in December in China, WHO declared on Wednesday the new coronavirus as a ” pandemic “, due to its “spread”, “severity of cases” and “insufficient measures” inappropriate “.

“To save lives, we need to reduce transmission. This means finding and isolating as many cases as possible and quarantining your closest contacts,” explained Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus .

“Even if transmission cannot be stopped, it can be delayed, protecting health facilities, nursing homes and other vital spaces, but only if all suspected cases are tested,” he warned.

With some countries lacking personal protective equipment, the WHO director- general said the organization is working “day and night” to help them.

The UN agency has already sent protective equipment to 57 countries and is preparing to send to 28 more. It has also sent laboratory supplies to 120 countries.

The pandemic of Covid -19 was detected in December in China, and has caused more than 4,500 deaths worldwide.

The number of infected people has exceeded 124 thousand people, with cases registered in 120 countries and territories, including Portugal, which has 78 infected people .