Thank you very much for attending today’s briefing. Your presence reflects the strength of our partnership, which is particularly important at this time.
With a fast-growing number of COVID-19 cases outside of China, the risk assessment at the global level is “very high”. More than 118 000 cases have now been reported from 114 countries. 4291 people have lost their lives.
As D-G Dr Tedros confirmed last night, we are dealing with a pandemic, but the first one in history that we can control. I urge you to heed that message and consider the data.
The situation varies from country to country. In many countries, the number of cases is still less than ten. Some countries have declining epidemics, with no reported case in weeks. Of all the cases reported globally, more than 90% are from just four countries.
Countries that have taken aggressive measures to contain the virus have had success. We must bend the curve and fight this with all our might.
To date, the South-East Asia Region has 160 confirmed cases reported from 8 countries. We have had one confirmed death in Thailand and one confirmed death in Indonesia. The countries affected are India, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Though we expect the number of cases and deaths to rise in coming weeks, our message is clear: All countries must aggressively contain the virus while preparing for all scenarios.
The highest level of political leadership and communication is needed to ensure all sectors, public institutions and the general public contribute. I urge all health partners to be part of this effort.
Since the outbreak began, I have been in formal contact with Member States in the Region. I have been supported by my Country Offices, who are with us today.
We have identified gaps on several critical fronts. Should these gaps persist, widespread community transmission in many countries in our Region is likely.
Filling the gaps requires scaling up our capacities to combat COVID-19 with more speed, more scope, in every technical area and in every province, municipality, city or village.
Our approach will continue to be systematic and rigorous. WHO has consolidated its guidance for countries into four scenarios: those with no cases; those with sporadic cases; those with clusters; and those with community transmission.
For all countries, the aim is the same: to stop transmission, prevent spread and save lives.
For the first three scenarios, which is where all countries in our Region are, health authorities must focus on detecting, testing, treating and isolating individual cases, and following their contacts. Countries must continue to prioritize these basic but highly effective outbreak response measures.
But they must also be agile: It is possible that countries will experience one or more of the four scenarios at the sub-national level, requiring them to adjust and tailor their approach to the local context.
Allow me to outline WHO’s core areas of focus for supporting governments, experts and the general public in the battle against COVID-19.
First, WHO is increasing knowledge of COVID-19 by disseminating accurate information. Our daily situation reports and dashboards are available online, displaying real-time data about the outbreak. HQ is conducting daily press briefings. We continue to clarify myths and misconceptions. Risk communication is being deployed in local languages. The better we know the disease, the better we can fight it.
Second, we are helping Member States to strengthen their readiness to respond. With WHO’s support, 10 countries in the Region have now drafted or finalized their response plan.
Third, WHO is providing supplies and equipment. WHO has so far shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to at least 57 countries, including 10 in the Region. To increase lab capacity, we have provided an initial supply of primers and probes to all countries in the Region that requested them – eight in total.
Fourth, WHO is providing training on how to detect, prevent, respond to and control the outbreak. In addition to the open and free trainings we are providing online, we have conducted several webinars on surveillance and contact tracing, clinical management, infection prevention and control, risk communications, strategic response planning and laboratory diagnostics.
Fifth, WHO is leading a system-wide UN Crisis Management Team to tackle the outbreak. The CMT will help WHO focus on the health response while other UN agencies address the wider social, economic and developmental implications of the outbreak.
Sixth, WHO is working with other UN agencies and partners to prepare Strategic Preparedness and Response Plans. It is these plans that will coordinate the international community’s support in each country. The international community has asked for USD 675 million to help protect states with weaker health systems. Almost USD 300 million has now been pledged.
Finally, WHO is coordinating global work on surveillance and contact tracing, epidemiology, modelling, diagnostics, clinical care and treatment, and other ways to identify, manage and limit onward transmission. In the Region, we are in the process of deploying WHO experts to several countries that have requested them. Thanks to the generous contributions of our partners, we have USD 6.5 million dollars to implement these and other measures.
WHO has now developed and published an R&D roadmap that identifies nine research priorities: the natural history of the virus, epidemiology, vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical management, ethical considerations, social sciences and more.
I look forward to the full participation of the research community in the battle against COVID-19. WHO has already received applications for review and approval of 40 diagnostic tests. 20 vaccines are in development and many clinical trials of therapeutics are underway.
Ambassadors, dignitaries and partners,
For the following briefing we have our Regional Emergency Director and our WHO Representatives from the Region connected through video conference. We are pleased to have Professor Randeep Guleria, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, for a scientific update of the virus situation and preparedness measures.
I urge you to make the most of this briefing. COVID-19 is a serious threat, but we are not at its mercy: It can be contained. I am certain our partners will continue to work with WHO and further strengthen their commitment to aggressively contain the virus across our Region. In the battle against this pandemic, we must all bring all our strengths to bear.
With that, I thank you and give the floor to Dr Ofrin to moderate this meeting.