GENEVA — The ***** Health Organization (WHO) has declared the *********** outbreak a global health ********* and at the same time notes that China is setting a “new standard for outbreak response.”
Speaking in Geneva on Jan. 30 following a meeting of the WHO’s ********* committee, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said that over the past few weeks, “we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak, and which has been met by an unprecedented response.”
He added: “The speed with which China detected the outbreak, isolated the *****, sequenced the genome and shared it with WHO and the ***** are very impressive, and beyond words. So is China’s commitment to transparency and to supporting other countries. In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. It’s not an exaggeration.”
The Director-General noted that he was declaring the public health ********* of international concern not because of what is happening in China, “but because of what is happening in other countries” adding that WHO’s greatest concern is “the potential for the ***** to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”
Speaking to the people of China and to all of those around the ***** who have been affected by this outbreak, Tedros said, “the ***** stands with you.” He stressed that WHO is working “diligently with national and international public health partners to bring this outbreak under control as fast as possible.”
Meanwhile Prime Minister ************** says the federal government is going through a “deliberate process” to airlift nearly 200 Canadians out of the epicentre of the outbreak of a novel ***********.
Trudeau says the government is doing what it has to do to ensure the risk to Canadians at home remains low.
Canada is seeking Chinese approval to send a plane to the city of ***** to collect the 196 Canadians who have asked for help to leave.
Trudeau says the government is co-ordinating ********** efforts with other countries.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne commended the Chinese government for its “fact-based response” to the ******.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
