WHO to convene 'emergency' meeting on Covid; embattled chief Dr Tedros lays out agenda

In view of the Coronavirus crisis, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will convene an emergency meeting on Thursday, April 30. This was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday during a virtual briefing on Coronavirus. 

During the meeting, he had said, "I will convene the emergency tomorrow because it is almost three months since we declared the highest emergency and that was what was suggested by the emergency committee -- to reconvene three months after the declaration to evaluate the evolution of the pandemic and advise on updated recommendations."

Read: China's Wuhan no longer has COVID-19 patients in hospital though risk of infection remains

WHO Chief's warning

On April 23, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the virus will be around for a long time. During a virtual press conference in Geneva, Adhanhom further warned that most of the countries in the world are still in their early stages of tackling the crisis. He had said that some countries who had thought of having the virus under control, are witnessing a resurgence in the cases. According to him, the UN health agency had declared a global emergency in good time on January 30, as it gave time for the countries to respond. During the conference, he said, "Make no mistake: We have a long way to go." 

Read: COVID-19 death toll in Europe hits 130,000; over 1.4M infected with the novel coronavirus

The COVID-19 crisis 

The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a Pandemic on March 11. At present, there are around 3,219,242 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection across the globe and the disease has led to the death of around 228,194 people. In a ray of hope, around 1,000,113 people are also reported to have recovered. Leading the number of worldwide cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 infection, the United States has become the new epicentre of the pandemic surpassing China, Italy, and Iran. 

Read: COVID-19: Five ministers undergoing test after coming in contact with video journalist who tested positive

Read: COVID-19 death toll in Europe hits 130,000; over 1.4M infected with the novel coronavirus