SAT, FEB 22 2020-theG&BJournal- The World Health Organisation (WHO) gave the stark warning at an emergency Ministerial meeting on COVID-19 organised by the African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Friday.
‘’The increasing signs of transmission outside China show that the window of opportunity we have for containing this virus is narrowing. We are calling on all countries to invest urgently in preparedness. We have to take advantage of the window of opportunity we have, to attack the virus outbreak with a sense of urgency,’’ WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom said.
According to WHO 13 priority countries in Africa has been identified because of their direct links to China or their high volume of travel with China.
WHO said its biggest concern continues to be the potential for COVID-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems.
Several African countries including Nigeria have tested suspected cases of COVID 19. There is one confirmed case on the continent, in Egypt.
WHO said China has now reported 75, 569 case, including 2239 deaths.
‘’The data from China continue to show decline in new cases. This is welcome news, but it must be interpreted very cautiously. It’s far too early to make predictions about this outbreak,’’ WHO warned.
Outside China, there are now 1200 cases in 26 countries, with 8 deaths.
Meanwhile a WHO-led international team of experts, including Chikwe Ihekweazu, the boss of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is in currently in China, visiting three provinces, and is today travelling to the epicentre in Wuhan.
South Korea now has the highest number of confirmed cases outside China. The country confirmed 142 more cases Saturday, raising the total number of infections to 346.
‘’We are working closely with the government to fully understand the transmission dynamics that led to this increase,’’ Tedros said.
Tedros also noted that Iran has report 18 cases during the past two days and four deaths. He said this is very concening, give the fact that there is also a case now Lebanon who is linked to Iran.
Tedros noted that 2% of reported cases, the coronavirus is fatal, and the risk of death increases in older patient a patient is, and with underlying health conditions.
‘’We see relatively few cases among children. More research is needed to understand why. 20% of patients have severe or critical COVID 19, ranging from shortness of breath to septic shock and multi-organ failure. These patients require intensive care using equipment such as respiratory support machines that are in short supply in many Africa countries.’’
Tedros said that ‘’with every day that passes, we know a little bit more about coronavirus and the disease it causes. We know that more than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover.’’
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