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Coronavirus latest: WHO says outbreak is not yet pandemic
Updates on the respiratory illness that has infected tens of thousands of people.
Coronavirus cases have jumped in South Korea over the past few days.Credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty
Scientists are concerned about a new virus that has infected tens of thousands of people and killed more than 2,000. The virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, is a coronavirus and belongs to the same family as the pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. It causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19, which can spread from person to person.
Here’s the latest news on the outbreak.
24 February 16:30 GMT — WHO says outbreak isn’t a pandemic
At a press briefing on 24 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, despite the spread of the disease, the coronavirus outbreak does not yet amount to a pandemic. “Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may cause fear,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this coronavirus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death,” said Tedros.“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely. Are we there yet? From our assessment not yet.”
Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s emergencies programme, justified the organization’s position by explaining that the virus’s transmission remains poorly understood — and it appears that the rate of new infections is declining in China. Instead, Ryan advised countries to focus on treating patients and reducing the chance of people spreading the virus to others.
24 February 14:00 GMT — Cases outside China are rising
The number of cases of COVID-19 outside China jumped over the weekend, with Italy, South Korea and Iran reporting new infections. Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Iraq also confirmed their first cases on 24 February.
Officials in Iran have reported up to 61 cases and 12 deaths. But the figures have been in flux, and case numbers will probably rise in the coming days, given that the number of deaths compared to overall cases is much higher than reported in other countries.
South Korea had confirmed 833 infections and 8 deaths as of 24 February, according to a virus tracker maintained by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
The virus is also spreading in Italy, where 230 people have been infected and 5 have died, according to the tracker.
At a meeting organized by the African Union on 22 February, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said he was especially worried about the rise in cases in Iran, South Korea and Italy. “The increasing signs of transmission outside China show that the window of opportunity we have for containing this virus is narrowing,” he said.
Meanwhile, more than 77,000 people have been infected in China, and the death toll there has passed 2,500.
Updates on the respiratory illness that has infected tens of thousands of people.
Coronavirus cases have jumped in South Korea over the past few days.Credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty
Scientists are concerned about a new virus that has infected tens of thousands of people and killed more than 2,000. The virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, is a coronavirus and belongs to the same family as the pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. It causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19, which can spread from person to person.
Here’s the latest news on the outbreak.
24 February 16:30 GMT — WHO says outbreak isn’t a pandemic
At a press briefing on 24 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, despite the spread of the disease, the coronavirus outbreak does not yet amount to a pandemic. “Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may cause fear,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this coronavirus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death,” said Tedros.“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely. Are we there yet? From our assessment not yet.”
Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s emergencies programme, justified the organization’s position by explaining that the virus’s transmission remains poorly understood — and it appears that the rate of new infections is declining in China. Instead, Ryan advised countries to focus on treating patients and reducing the chance of people spreading the virus to others.
24 February 14:00 GMT — Cases outside China are rising
The number of cases of COVID-19 outside China jumped over the weekend, with Italy, South Korea and Iran reporting new infections. Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Iraq also confirmed their first cases on 24 February.
Officials in Iran have reported up to 61 cases and 12 deaths. But the figures have been in flux, and case numbers will probably rise in the coming days, given that the number of deaths compared to overall cases is much higher than reported in other countries.
South Korea had confirmed 833 infections and 8 deaths as of 24 February, according to a virus tracker maintained by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
The virus is also spreading in Italy, where 230 people have been infected and 5 have died, according to the tracker.
At a meeting organized by the African Union on 22 February, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said he was especially worried about the rise in cases in Iran, South Korea and Italy. “The increasing signs of transmission outside China show that the window of opportunity we have for containing this virus is narrowing,” he said.
Meanwhile, more than 77,000 people have been infected in China, and the death toll there has passed 2,500.
