Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID - 19): WHO Update (10 August 2020)

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said that this week the number of registered cases of COVID-19 will reach 20 million and 750,000 deaths, adding that leaders must step up to take action and citizens need to embrace new measures.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (10 Aug), Tedros said, “behind these statistics is a great deal of pain and suffering. Every life lost matters. I know many of you are grieving and that this is a difficult moment for the world. But I want to be clear, there are green shoots of hope and no matter where a country, a region, a city or a town is – it’s never too late to turn the outbreak around."

Tedros also mendtioned that as countries work to suppress COVID-19, the world must further accelerate to rapidly develop and equitably distribute the additional tools to stop this pandemic.

On the ACT Accelerator which is the only end-to-end, global solution that combines public and private sector expertise in research and development, manufacturing, procurement and delivery for the tools needed to address the pandemic’s cause, Terdos said, "there is a vast global gap between our ambition for the ACT-Accelerator and the amount of funds that have been committed.”

He continued, “while we’re grateful for those that have made contributions, we’re only 10 per cent of the way to funding the billions required to realise the promise of the ACT Accelerator. And this is only part of the global investment needed to ensure everyone everywhere can access the tools. For the vaccines alone, over $100 billion will be needed, U.S. dollars."

Also briefing the reporters, WHO’s Michael Ryan said, “once you get the disease down to a low level, you will have flareups. What you do about those flare ups and how localized you can be in the surgery that's needed to remove the virus really comes down to how well you've invested in your ability to do surveillance, to do quarantine, to do tracing and do all of those other things."

Ryan also said, “this virus has demonstrated no seasonal pattern as such so far,” adding that “What it has clearly demonstrated is: you take the pressure off the virus, the virus bounces back. That's the reality, that's the fact.”

He continued, “you can call that a second wave, you can call that a second spike, you can call that a flare up, you can call it anything you like -- take the pressure off this virus, the virus will bounce back."

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from WHO said, "we would like everyone on the planet to understand what their role is in this fight against COVID-19, to manage your own risk in terms of what you do every day, in terms of deciding, if you can, if you are asked to stay home, please stay home but if you do need to leave your house to do different things, to follow the national guidance, if you're asked to wear a mask and you go in shops, or you go on public transportation, please do so, if you could avoid crowded places, if you could avoid indoor settings with poor ventilation, manage your own risk, reduce the opportunity for you to become exposed to this virus.”

On the G7, Ryan said, "obviously the G7 have been some of the richest and most powerful nations in the world, and organizations that quite frankly have invested a tremendous about technically, operationally and financially in the World Health Organization.”

He continued, “so it's always a good thing when they're talking about global health, when they're talking about the threat of pandemics and how we work our way out of this one. So we welcome those engagements, we are not a part of those discussions and negotiations. And we would leave it to the participants in that discussion to clarify what their positions are in that discussion.”

Ryan stated, "the virus doesn't have a brain, we're the ones with the brains. The virus is a very simple biologic entity that can enter a human cell and instruct that cell to make more viruses, which can ultimately kill the person that infects or at the very minimum, transmit to another person. It's brutal in its simplicity, it is brutal in its cruelty, but it doesn't have a brain. We have the brains."

On Beirut, Tedros said, "to the people of Beirut, the health workers and emergency workers on the ground: our thoughts are with you and we will continue to support you.”

He continued, “from our strategic stockpile in Dubai, WHO immediately sent surgical and major trauma supplies. We released funds from the contingency fund for emergencies. And our staff are on the ground are supporting the assessment of the impact on the health sector with Lebanese and other UN partners. We are shipping $1.7 million dollars worth of PPE items to support COVID-19 and humanitarian supplies that were destroyed by the blast."