The World Health Organization declared that the coronavirus constitutes a global public health emergency.
The WHO Emergency Committee convened Thursday to announce that the virus has become an urgent public health threat, one week after saying it was too early to do so.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he still had total confidence in the Chinese government to control the virus and treat those infected.
“I’ve seen their capacity to control this outbreak,” Tedros said. “Not only are they protecting their people, but if you look at the figures, they’re protecting the rest of the world.”
Of the nearly 8,000 cases reported globally, about 7,700 cases, as well as all 170 deaths, have been reported in China.
“We would have seen many more cases outside China by now, and probably deaths, if it were not for the government’s efforts and the progress they have made to protect their own people and the people of the world,” Tedros said.
Other countries, including the United States, are bracing for further contagion by initiating health-screening procedures at airports and placing travel restrictions on those traveling to and from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus.
The WHO said Thursday that decisions to restrict travel were unnecessary and “questionable.” Tedros said the WHO “doesn’t recommend and actually opposes” some of the measures countries have taken to hopefully keep the virus from spreading among their citizens, including refusing visas and closing borders.
Earlier Thursday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin decided to shut down the country’s Far East border with China, roughly 2,600 miles.
“There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade,” Tedros said. “We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent.”
