BREAKING: WHO Declares a New COVID Variant Outbreak in China
A worldwide health emergency has been proclaimed by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the latest coronavirus outbreak in China.
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The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced this at a Geneva press conference.
The decision was made in response to the WHO emergency committee’s recommendation to declare the epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) during its meeting last Thursday.
The decision had been “almost unanimous,” Didier Houssin, chair of the emergency committee, said at the press conference.
“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries,” Tedros said at the press conference.
Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems and which are ill-prepared to deal with it. Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak,” he stated.
Tedros also summarized the emergency committee’s suggestions for managing the outbreak, which included halting the transmission of false information and speeding up the development of medications and vaccines.
