by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Monday that there might never be a “silver bullet” for the new coronavirus, despite the rush to discover effective vaccines. The WHO urged governments and citizens to focus on doing the known basics, such as testing, contact tracing, maintaining physical distance and wearing a mask in order to suppress the pandemic, which has upended normal life around the globe […]
Tag: WHO
Australian city begins curfew as global virus cases top 18 million
by Carly Waters, with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s second-largest city started a six-week curfew and the Philippine capital was ordered back into lockdown, as the number of global coronavirus cases on Monday topped 18 million. The spread of the virus is gathering pace with worldwide deaths nearing 700,000, and a White House adviser warning that it was “extraordinarily widespread” in the United States — the worst-hit nation. There […]
No indication new coronavirus is seasonal: WHO
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The spread of the novel coronavirus does not appear to be impacted by seasonality, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning against false beliefs that summer is safer. “Season does not seem to be affecting the transmission of this virus,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in a virtual briefing. She pointed out that some of the hardest-hit countries are currently in the midst of different season. While it is summer […]
Tighter mask rules, more tests as WHO warns of Europe virus spike
by Marc Preel with AFP bureaus COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The World Health Organization expressed concern Friday over a coronavirus resurgence in Europe as Britain joined France, Germany and Austria in announcing tighter mask rules and greater testing. Europe accounts for a fifth of the world’s more than 15 million infections and remains the hardest-hit region in terms of deaths, with 207,118 out of more than 630,000 globally since the virus emerged in China late […]
Tighter mask rules, more tests as WHO warns of Europe virus spike
by Marc Preel with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse The World Health Organization expressed concern Friday over a coronavirus resurgence in Europe as Britain joined France, Germany and Austria in announcing tighter mask requirements and greater testing. Europe accounts for a fifth of the world’s more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 207,118 out of more 630,000 globally since the pandemic emerged in China late last […]
Vaccine studies offer new hope as WHO warns on Africa
by James Pheby with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Two studies offered new hope of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus on Monday, as the World Health Organization warned about a possible acceleration of the disease in Africa. Seven months after COVID-19 was first identified in China and has since killed more than 600,000 people worldwide and battered economies, there is growing alarm over fresh outbreaks of the […]
Brazil’s skeptical president has virus, US starts WHO withdrawal
by Louis GENOT with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the risks of coronavirus, announced Tuesday he has tested positive, as the United States — the nation hardest hit by the pandemic — formally launched its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN health agency meanwhile acknowledged that there was “emerging evidence” of airborne transmission of COVID-19, which has infected nearly 11.7 million people around […]
US formally starts withdrawal from WHO
by Shaun TANDON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally started the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, making good on threats to deprive the UN body of its top funding source over its response to the coronavirus. Public health advocates and Trump’s political opponents voiced outrage at the departure from the Geneva-based body, which leads the global fight on maladies from polio to measles to mental […]
WHO studying evidence on airborne virus transmission
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO said Tuesday it would study fresh evidence on airborne transmission of the coronavirus, after an international group of scientists concluded it could spread far beyond two metres. The World Health Organization said it would put out a new scientific brief within days, rounding up the knowledge about how the virus can be transmitted and ensuring its guidance stays in line with the evidence. The two-metre (yard) […]
WHO monitoring China bubonic plague situation
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was monitoring a case of bubonic plague in China after being notified by the authorities in Beijing. A herdsman in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region was confirmed at the weekend to have the bubonic plague. Two other cases were confirmed in Khovd province in neighbouring Mongolia last week involving brothers who had eaten marmot meat, China’s state news agency Xinhua said. “Bubonic plague […]
WHO says Mideast at ‘critical threshold’ in virus numbers
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Wednesday the Middle East was at a decisive moment in the fight against the novel coronavirus, with cases surging as countries ease lockdown measures. “We are at a critical threshold in our region,” the WHO’s Middle East head, Ahmed al-Mandhari, said in an online press conference. According to figures published by the global health body on Wednesday, the 22 countries from Morocco to Pakistan had […]
Dizon: WHO level for good COVID response achieved as 600k Filipinos tested, with only 5% turning positive
June 30 target of 50k testing capacity already achieved as of June 19, he says (Eagle News) – The Philippines has so far tested more than 600,000 of the population for COVID-19 and has achieved the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 5 percent positivity rate indicating better management of the coronavirus situation, according to the deputy chief implementer of the national task force against COVID-19, Secretary Vince Dizon. In a regular press briefing […]





