In view of the worldwide spread of the coronavirus the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the international health emergency. The WHO announced after a meeting of its responsible expert committee. The decision was “almost unanimous”.
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The reason is not the cases in China, said WHOPresident Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Rather, it is about the spread of the virus in other countries. “We have seen many cases outside of China,” he said.
The WHO president praised China for dealing with the outbreak of lung disease. The country has “set a new standard” in this regard, he said. The biggest worry now is that the virus can spread to countries with less well-equipped health systems. You don’t know what damage it could do there.
To date, 170 people have died in China after becoming infected with the lung disease, according to the Chinese National Health Service. In China, infections have now been found in all regions and provinces of the mainland. Worldwide, more than 8100 people are affected in around 20 countries, most of them in the Chinese province of Hubei. The first cases occurred in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December.
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The most important questions and answers about the decision at a glance:
What does an international health emergency mean?
The aim of the international health emergency is to limit the spread of a pathogen across borders. To achieve this, the WHO recommends various measures by declaring an emergency. The more than 100 WHO Member States are expected to follow these recommendations. But you are not obliged to do so.
Another goal is to coordinate the measures of the individual countries so that they take place in a coordinated manner. Many countries and companies have already taken steps to stop the pathogen. The US, for example, said on Thursday that a new task force was watching the virus. Many airlines hired flight operations to China, Some states even have that Visa application for Chinese citizens stopped,
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Among other things, the WHO now recommends that countries with less developed health systems should be supported. In addition, the work on drugs and vaccines should be accelerated, knowledge and data shared and acted against rumors become. At the same time, the WHO does not recommend any restrictions on trade and travel – not even with and to China.
The international health emergency was not declared last week, but it is now. What has changed over time?
A committee of experts had discussed two hours last week whether the international health emergency should be declared. In the end, the World Health Organization decided against it. The main reason at that time was that the outbreak was a threat to China, but only a few Chinese travelers abroad were ill. This has changed, among other things, due to the cases in Germany.
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In Munich there are currently four infected people in isolation in the hospital who have not contracted in China but in Bavaria. The point of departure for her infections was a colleague who had flown in from China for a seminar. Authorities have also documented corona cases in other countries in which people were infected not in China but on the spot through contact with travelers to China.
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In addition, there is a second challenge that has only been known since the weekend and that addresses the Cases from Germany clarifies: The virus can be passed on by people who are infected but have no symptoms. The Chinese employee still felt healthy when she entered Germany. It was only on her return to China that she developed such severe complaints that she saw a doctor.
There is still no vaccine and no drug that protects against infection with the new coronavirus. In this case, the outbreak can only be contained if infected people are quickly found and isolated so that they do not infect anyone. This becomes much more difficult if you already transmit the virus before you notice your illness.
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How many times has the international health emergency been declared in the past?
The World Health Organization has decided to take this step only five times since 2005:
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2019 when the Ebola virus could not be brought under control in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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2016 when the Zika virus spread in America
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2014 in the devastating Ebola epidemic in West Africa
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2014 due to an international spread of the wild poliovirus
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2009 pandemic, the H1N1 flu virus, better known as swine flu
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