WHO Declares Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency, US Finds First Person-to-Person Case!

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern after the report of 170 death on Thursday, while the death toll from the coronavirus in China reached 213 on Friday morning, with total confirmed cases of 9,692.

 

The second meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO yesterday discussed through teleconference and acknowledged that there are still many unknowns, cases have now been reported in five WHO regions in one month, and human-to-human transmission has occurred outside Wuhan and outside China.

The Committee believes that it is still possible to interrupt virus spread, provided that countries put in place strong measures to detect disease early, isolate and treat cases, trace contacts, and promote social distancing measures commensurate with the risk. It is important to note that as the situation continues to evolve, so will the strategic goals and measures to prevent and reduce spread of the infection.

The Committee agreed that the outbreak now meets the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and proposed the following advice to be issued as Temporary Recommendations.

 

Overnight, the U.S. health officials had confirmed the first case of the person-to-person spread of coronavirus, making the sixth case in the U.S. The latest case is a husband of a woman who got sick from the virus after returning from the epicenter of an outbreak in China.

The report said that there have been cases in China and elsewhere indicating that the virus can spread between people in a household or workplace.