“The most important thing is to calm down and do the right things to fight this very dangerous virus.”
The World Health Organisation has moved to allay mounting fears over the spread of coronavirus, noting that it is providing the tools to support every affected country accordingly.
On Thursday evening, the first case of coronavirus in Ireland was officially confirmed. The unnamed patient had been in Northern Italy, a badly affected region, before travelling back to Belfast this week, coming through Dublin on the way.
Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride subsequently urged the public not to panic. Announcing the diagnosis, he said:
“Our health service is well used to dealing with such infections and I want to reassure the public that we are prepared.
“The risk to population of Northern Ireland has not changed as a result of this presumptive positive test result.”
McBride’s comments echo those of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who urged the public to remain calm during a press conference on Thursday.
“Our message continues to be that this virus has pandemic potential and WHO is providing the tools to help every country to prepare accordingly,” he said.
“We’ve shipped testing kits to 57 countries and personal protective equipment to 85 countries who need it. We have trained more than 80,000 health workers through our online courses, in multiple languages.
“We’ve issued operational guidelines, with concrete actions countries can take in eight key areas to prevent, detect and manage cases. The guidelines also include key performance indicators, and the estimated resources needed to prepare for and respond to a cluster of up to 100 cases. This is not enough, so we will do more.
“WHO stands ready to support every country to develop its national plan,” Ghebreyesus continued.
“Once again, this is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action now to prevent infections and save lives now.
“Fear and panic doesn’t help. People can have concerns and rightly so. People can be worried and rightly so. The most important thing is to calm down and do the right things to fight this very dangerous virus.”
The World Health Organisation has underlined that the epidemic is at a “decisive point”, with new cases arising in new countries across the week.
“My message to each of these countries is – this is your window of opportunity,” the WHO Director-General stated.
“If you act aggressively now, you can contain this virus. You can prevent people getting sick. You can save lives. So my advice to these countries is to move swiftly.
“The epidemics in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea demonstrate what this virus is capable of. But this virus is not influenza. With the right measures, it can be contained.”
As of Friday morning, 83,391 cases have been recorded worldwide.
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