Chongqing- On February 28, the Chongqing Municipal Government Information Office held a press conference on the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic (No.34 session), Xia Pei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Municipal Health Committee stressed that everyone, regardless of nationality, adheres to the same treatment.
Xia Pei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Municipal Health Committee, to introduce the situation of Chongqing's epidemic prevention and control
Xia Pei said that all entry personnel have been subjected to the body temperature testing, filled in relevant travel and health information, and any person with symptoms such as fever will be sent to the designated medical institutions for diagnosis and treatment following regulations. Implement community grid management and carry out health monitoring and management and services for all residents, including companies where residents reside, residential communities, and hotels.
Since the outbreak, the 14 days quarantine measure has been further strengthened, and it has been strictly carried out in all districts and counties of Chongqing.
On a news conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of P.R.China yesterday, Mr.Zhao Lijian, the spokesman expressed that it is the most crucial moment for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 outbreak in China now, so it's understanding that China adopts the measure as to those travel from the epidemic areas broad, will be taken 14 days self-quarantine or organized medical observation.
WHO to raise COVID-19 risk to "very high" at the global level
According to Xinhua news, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, announced that to raise COVID-19 risk to "very high" at the global level.
There are already 4351 cases outside China, and there is an increasing number of countries experiencing outbreaks. Therefore, the global risk level of COVID-19 pneumonia is raised, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"We're on the highest level of alert and risk assessment in terms of spread and impact, but that's not to alarm and scare people," said Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (C) speaks at a daily briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)
"Our epidemiologists have been monitoring these developments continuously, and we have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of the impact of COVID-19 to very high at a global level," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a daily briefing.
WHO is concerned over the continued increase in the number of cases and affected countries over the last few days. Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Nigeria have all reported their first cases Thursday, with all the cases having links to Italy.
Despite the increase, there is no evidence of the virus spreading freely in communities, said the WHO chief, underlining that there's still the chance of containing it "if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts."
"There is a window of opportunity (to contain the virus), although it's narrowing more and more by the day," the WHO chief said, reiterating that strategies starting from containment can work.
Also at the briefing, Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, explained that raising the risk assessment at the global level "doesn't make a legal difference to the way in which states have to act," but essentially reflects what's happening at the global level. "We're on the highest level of alert and risk assessment in terms of spread and impact, but that's not to alarm and scare people," he said. Instead, it's to get countries to understand that it's in their control to contain the virus."It's a reality check for every government" to wake up and get ready for the virus, Ryan said.
20+ vaccines are being developed
Currently, there are more than 20 COVID-19 pneumonia vaccines in the world, and some treatments are undergoing clinical trials. The first results are expected in a few weeks, according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In addition, although the epidemic is spreading globally, China's experience proves that as long as effective measures are taken to detect cases as early as possible, and do self-quarantine, there is still an opportunity to curb the spread of the virus and prevent it from becoming a pandemic. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the biggest enemy at present is not viruses but fear, rumors, and stigma. What is most valuable is fact and solidarity.
WHO experts said that it is not yet possible to determine the source of the COVID-19 virus and that stigmatized news should be avoided. The technical director of the WHO health emergency project said that there is still much work to be done to identify intermediate host animals that cause human infection with COVID-19 pneumonia. There is no exact answer, but active research is underway.