China’s President Collaborates with WHO to Stop the 2019-nCoV Outbreak

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met in Beijing with the People’s Republic of China’s President Xi Jinping, to reiterate their commitment to bring the 2019-nCoV outbreak under control.

“Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is the WHO’s highest priority,” said Dr. Tedros, in a media statement.

The WHO mission comes as the number of people confirmed in China with the 2019-nCoV virus reached 4,633 diagnosed cases, with 6,972 suspected cases and 106 related fatalities, as of 11:53 Beijing Time on January 28, 2020. 

During this meeting on January 28th, the National Health Commission presented China’s strong public health capacities and resources to respond and manage respiratory disease outbreaks. 

The discussions focused on continued collaboration on containment measures in Wuhan, public health measures in other cities and provinces, conducting further studies on the severity and transmissibility of the virus, continuing to share data, and for China to share biological material with WHO. 

These measures will advance scientific understanding of the virus and contribute to the development of medical countermeasures such as vaccines and treatments.

The two sides agreed that WHO will send international experts to visit China as soon as possible to work with Chinese counterparts on increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts.

Much remains to be understood about 2019-nCoV, such as the actual source of the outbreak and the extent to which it has spread in China is not yet known. 

A better understanding of the transmissibility and severity of the virus is urgently required to guide other countries on appropriate response measures.

The WHO is continually monitoring developments and the Director-General can reconvene the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee on very short notice as needed. Committee members are on stand-by and are informed regularly of developments.

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The best-known human coronaviruses are Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Outbreaks of MERS continues today, primarily in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As of January 28, 2020, there are no approved antiviral medications to treat or vaccines to prevent the 2019-nCoV virus in the USA, says the CDC.

Additionally, the CDC increased its Travel Alert status to Level 3 on January 27, 2020, recommending that all travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China.

Coronavirus travel news published by Vax-Before-Travel.