Thu 30 January 2020:
The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned all governments to “take action” over the deadly SARS-like virus spreading from China, as hundreds of foreigners were evacuated from the epicentre of the outbreak.
So far, the novel coronavirus has claimed 132 lives in China and infected more than 6,000 people in the country and elsewhere. New cases were reported in Finland and the United Arab Emirates.
The WHO called an urgent meeting for Thursday over whether the viral epidemic should be declared a global health emergency — a designation that can lead to increased international coordination.
Airlines around the world are either suspending or paring back services in and out of China, following cases of human-to-human transmission outside the country.
In the sporting world, the World Indoor Athletics Championships set for March in Nanjing have been pushed back to 2021, and World Cup skiing races have been cancelled.
“WHO is monitoring this outbreak every moment of every day,” the organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva, as he announced his decision to convene crisis talks.
On Twitter, Tedros said the organisation “deeply regrets” what he called a “human error” in WHO reports last week that referred to the global risk of the outbreak as “moderate” instead of “high”.
Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told reporters that “the whole world needs to be on alert now. The whole world needs to take action.”
Ryan said declaring a global health emergency could streamline the measures taken — a preferable scenario to the “potential recipe for disaster” of nearly 200 nations acting individually.
Both Tedros and Ryan hailed China for its “extraordinary” efforts so far to contain the epidemic.
– Economic pain –
The virus has rattled global markets and started to dent the Chinese economy.
Japanese automaker Toyota said it would keep its plants in China closed until at least February 9. Swedish furniture giant IKEA will temporarily close half of its 30 stores on the mainland.
Tech giant Foxconn said Wednesday that Taiwan staff at its vast network of factories in China do not need to return to work until mid-February, a move threatening supply chains for everything from iPhones to flat-screen TVs and laptops.
US fast food giant McDonald’s said it had closed all its locations — “several hundred” restaurants — in Hubei.
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