Head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Wednesday said the world had a chance to fight the coronavirus disease and the havoc it wrecks, if it stands as one.
“The choice should be humanity against this virus,” Ghebreyesus said.
On Jan. 30, Ghebreyesus had sounded the top-level WHO alarm, following the advice of an emergency committee.
“We sounded the alarm early and we sounded it often.
“Only 82 COVID-19 cases and no deaths had been reported outside China at that time,“he said.
The U.S. suspended its funding for the WHO in April, as President Donald Trump accused the agency of covering up and playing down the outbreak that started in China in December.
“WHO became aware of unusual pneumonia cases in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31, and requested information from China on New Year’s Day.
“WHO started warning about possible transmission among humans on Jan. 5.
“There is one thing we haven’t done. We haven’t given up and we won’t give up.
“We said repeatedly that the world had a window of opportunity to prepare and to prevent widespread community transmission,” he said.
As the pandemic has spread across the globe, the total case number has surpassed 3.1 million, with around a third of the cases recorded in the U.S.
