In: https://www.abc.es/sociedad/abci-avisa-tasa-mortalidad-covid-19-10-veces-superior-gripe-202004091811_noticia.html#vca=221572&vso=nw&vmc=20200409200002-0100-100-coronavirus_0425&vli=re_pa-not-1-txt-gde&vus=4cb349d85ae6408d998c2d6848170a5e
It has been 100 days since the first cases of coronavirus were detected in the world
Tedros made these remarks as the 100th day since the first cases of coronavirus were detected worldwide, in Wuhan province, China, and the first Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan was launched. The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported that the mortality rate of the novel coronavirus, whose disease is known as COVID-19, is "10 times higher" than that of the flu.
"The global spread of the virus has overwhelmed health systems, disrupted the world economy and caused widespread social paralysis," said the WHO Director-General.
The novel coronavirus has already infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and caused nearly 80,000 deaths. This pandemic is now "much more than a health crisis" and could cause significant damage to wealthier countries, although Tedros says the devastation it could wreak on poorer, more disadvantaged regions remains to be seen.
That is precisely why the second edition of the WHO's strategic plan to tackle Covid-19, which is expected to be published in the coming days, will place special emphasis on measures to support the most disadvantaged countries.
Specifically, the new document, as Tedros has announced, will be based on five fundamental pillars:
- mobilize all sectors and communities;
- control sporadic cases, clusters and prevent community transmission;
- suppress the transmission where it occurs;
- to provide adequate care to all cases in order to reduce mortality;
- to promote the development of "safe and effective" vaccines and therapies
"These strategic objectives must be supported by tailored national strategies to find, test, isolate and treat every case, and trace every contact," said the WHO Director-General, adding that national strategies must in turn be supported internationally in five key areas.
These areas are based on supporting countries to develop their preparedness and response capabilities; promoting epidemiological analysis and risk communication; coordinating the global supply chain; mobilizing health professionals; and accelerating research, innovation, and knowledge sharing.
“Our second Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan will estimate the resources needed to implement national and international strategies during the next phase of the response. We are all in this together, and we still have a long way to go. We must quarantine the politicization of this virus at the national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to lose,” Tedros concluded.