Good afternoon, and welcome to all media who have joined us, both in the room and on line,
Let me begin with the latest numbers.
As of 6 am Geneva time this morning, there are 24 363 confirmed cases in China, and 490 deaths.
In the last 24 hours we had the most cases in a single day since the outbreak started.
Outside China there are 191 cases in 24 countries, and one death, in the Philippines. Of those, 31 cases are in people with no travel history to China, but all are close contacts of a confirmed case or of someone from Wuhan.
So far, 99% of the cases are in China, and 80% of cases in China are from Hubei province.
Last night I said that some high-income countries are well behind in sharing vital case data with WHO. I’m pleased to report that since then many countries are already reporting, and this is welcome news.
As I said last night, the relatively small number of cases outside China gives us a window of opportunity to prevent this outbreak from becoming a broader global crisis.
Our greatest concern is about the potential for spread in countries with weaker health systems, and which lack the capacity to detect or diagnose the virus. We are only as strong as the weakest link.
Those of you listening to the technical briefing yesterday heard the plea from some developing countries for funding – and there are many countries in the same position.
What is WHO doing to support those countries?
We continue to support the Chinese government’s efforts to address the outbreak at the epicenter, at the source, in Wuhan. We must not forget how difficult this is for the people of Wuhan. But doing our best at the epicenter slows the spread of
the virus, and that’s what we’re seeing.
We’re also continuing to provide scientific leadership. Today the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group, chaired by Dr David Heymann, has met and given us advice, especially on what we don’t know.
Separately, WHO has released a total of $9 million from our own Contingency Fund for Emergencies.
WHO is sending half a million masks;
350 000 pairs of gloves;
40 000 respirators;
and almost 18 000 isolation gowns from our warehouses in Dubai and Accra to 24 countries, and we will add more countries.
We’re sending 250 000 tests to more than 70 reference laboratories globally to facilitate faster testing.
But we need to do more. This is not enough.
That’s why today we are launching a Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, to support countries to prevent, detect and diagnose onward transmission.
We are requesting US$ 675 million to fund the plan for the next three months. US$ 60 million of that is to fund WHO’s operations – the rest is for the countries that are especially at risk, and who need our support.
Our message to the international community is: invest today, or pay more later.
US$ 675 million is a lot of money, but it is much less than the bill we will face if we do not invest in preparedness now, during the window of opportunity that we have.
Once again, we cannot defeat this outbreak without solidarity – political solidarity, technical solidarity and financial solidarity.
I would like to thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for quickly stepping up to offer $100 million in support for accelerating response efforts, strengthening preparedness systems in the most vulnerable countries, and to support diagnostics, vaccine and treatment research and development.
As you know, we’re working very aggressively on developing vaccines and therapeutics, and this pledge from the foundation will help us in speeding up research on vaccines and therapeutics.
Finally, we understand that people are worried and concerned – and rightly so. But this is not a time for fear, this is not a time for panic – it’s a time for rational, evidence-based action and investment, while we still have a window of opportunity to bring this outbreak under control.
Thank you.