Published 07:32 IST, February 23rd 2020
While China sees a sharp decline in Coronavirus cases, WHO concerned by global spread
China has recently reported a significant decline in new cases as well as deaths of the Coronavirus on Saturday but the numbers continued to rise globally.
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China has recently reported a significant decline in new cases as well as deaths of the Coronavirus on Saturday. While this seems like good news, world health officials have warned that it was still too early to make predictions concerning Coronavirus as the number of cases and deaths in other countries continue to rise.
WHO worried about the growing number of cases in other nations
Authorities in China on Friday announced only 397 new cases, which is a significant drop compared to 889 new infected cases on Thursday. However, reports have indicated that the number of cases has surged in South Korea, Iran, Italy and Lebanon.
The World Health Organisation has reportedly welcomed the decline in new cases in China but continues to be concerned about the growing number of infections in other countries. The real disturbing trend, as reported by WHO, is that the new cases have no links to China such as travel history or contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, prompting the mystery around how these individuals were infected.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has claimed that the biggest fear for the organisation is that the virus will continue to spread to other countries and especially those with weaker health systems.
Countries with weaker health systems need the 🌍's focus & support now, due to the potential for #COVID19 to spread to those locations.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 21, 2020
We must take advantage of the window of opportunity we have to contain the outbreak. We don't want to look back later & regret failing to act.
The World Health Organisation has called on the world to pledge $675 million in support of the most vulnerable countries. 13 African countries are seen as a priority by WHO because of their close links to China.
According to WHO statistics, the virus is fatal in 2% of all cases while 80% remain mild and 20% of those infected are critical or severe.
07:31 IST, February 23rd 2020