The World Health Organization (WHO) is criticizing media panic over the coronavirus, insisting that the disease can still be defeated and declaring that it is premature to refer to the outbreak as a pandemic, although acknowledging there is the potential to reach that level of worldwide infections.
WHO confident of coronavirus defeat, no pandemic yet
As the number of the COVID-19 coronavirus cases continued to mount around the world, media headlines have caused financial markets to plummet, while invoking a sense of panic internationally. The World Health Organization is speaking out in an effort to calm fears.
“The key message that should give all countries hope, courage and confidence is that this virus can be contained, indeed there are many countries that have done exactly that,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news conference in Geneva.
“Using the word ‘pandemic’ now does not fit the facts but may certainly cause fear,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has,” Ghebreyesus continued. “Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet.”
“We must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic,” Ghebreyesus added as a cautionary note.
Deaths may be over representated, WHO says
Something of concern to many people around the world is the fact that reports of a 2 percent death rate for the virus, like those reported in China, seem to contrast higher death rates seen in other countries.
It has left many people wondering whether China is being honest in their reporting, and even if international health officials are being forthright with the public.
For example, as of this writing, Iran has reported 95 cases and 16 deaths. According to those figures, that’s a 16.8% death rate. Italy has a reported 322 cases and 11 deaths, which is a death rate of 3.4%.
“With regard to Iran, again, a little like was originally the case in China, we need to be very careful in the first wave of infections in any newly affected country, because we may only be detecting severe cases and the deaths would be over-represented,” says Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies program.
Some medical professionals say that the high death rates being reported in Iran may simply be due to the number of infections being reported that are lagging behind the numbers of deaths being reported, creating a false impression.