WHO Declares Global Health Emergency, Right After U.S. Confirms 1st Case Of Human-To-Human Transmission
(Updated: 2:44 p.m. EST, Jan. 30 2020)
Topline: The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday in a press conference that they are declaring coronavirus an international health emergency, about an hour after the first U.S. human-to-human transmission of the disease was confirmed in Chicago.
- The declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China, according to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who praised China’s efforts: “The Chinese government is to be congratulated for extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak.”
- The Washington Post reported earlier on Thursday that a Chicago woman in her 60s who traveled to Wuhan, China, last month contracted coronavirus and then spread it to her husband here in the U.S., marking the first time that that coronavirus has spread person-to-person inside the U.S.
- WHO reconvened its emergency committee in a meeting to evaluate the crisis Thursday, after declining to declare the outbreak an international health emergency during a meeting January 23.
- A global emergency includes recommendations to all countries for the prevention and reduction of cross-border spread of the virus, as well as guidelines for worldwide health officials to monitor, prepare and contain any infection, but WHO has no legal authority to sanction countries.
- The WHO meeting also follows earlier reports that the total number of infected cases in China (over 8,100) surpassed the number of people infected with SARS during the 2002-2003 outbreak, with the Chinese death roll reaching 171.
- Also Thursday: 7,000 cruise ship passengers and crew became stranded off Italy’s coast as a passenger from Hong Kong was tested for the disease.
Crucial quote: “We don’t know what sort of damage coronavirus could do if it spreads to a country with a weaker health system,” said Ghebreyesus. “We must act now.”
Key background: The first case of coronavirus was reported in December. Chinese authorities say the disease broke out in a seafood market in Wuhan,where it was transmitted from an animal, and is now being transmitted between humans. The disease is spread through airborne droplets from coughing and sneezing. Symptoms range from coughing and sneezing to pneumonia and kidney failure in the severest cases; the incubation period is up to 14 days. This week, Australian scientists created the virus in a lab, which could be used to speed up the development of a vaccine and develop a better understanding of the virus. Countries including the U.S., Australia, the U.K., Japan and more have evacuated their citizens from China, while multiple airlines have suspended trips to and from China. Global markets are down as investors react to the virus’ spread, and businesses like Starbucks, Disney, IKEA and others have temporarily closed their doors in affected areas.
Surprising fact: The WHO only rarely declares a disease a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” according to Reuters. WHO has previously used the “international public health emergency” designation for the 2019 ebola outbreak, the 2016 Zika virus, the 2014 polio and ebola outbreak, and the 2009 H1 flu pandemic.
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