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WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 4:19
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 30 NOVEMBER 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, press conference room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO:
"This is no time for complacency, especially with the holiday season approaching in many cultures and countries. We all want to be together with the people we love during festive periods. But being with family and friends is not worth putting them or yourself at risk. We all need to consider whose life we might be gambling with in the decisions we make."
3. Wide shot, press conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO:
"The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way we celebrate, but it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. We still can celebrate. The changes you make will depend on where you live. Always follow your local or national guidelines. The first question to ask yourself is, do you need to travel?"
5. Wide shot, press conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO:
"Even if we can’t celebrate as normal this year, make a plan to celebrate with your family and friends once it’s safe to do so. We know it will be safe, it's a matter of time. The pandemic will end – and we all have a part to play in ending it."
7. Wide shot, press conference room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme:
"So, it's not just the places in which skiing occurred. It's the risks that's exchanged between locations based on the movement of people. It's not that they went skiing or they're going skiing. That's not the issue. The issue is any activity that involves large numbers of people moving into a concentrated space and then using public and other transport to get there and back needs to be managed carefully, and it needs to be managed, as Maria (Van Kerkhove) said, with a very much a risk management approach. We don't hold a position on whether something should be canceled or not canceled because the circumstances change in each and every jurisdiction. So, we would advise that all countries look at their ski season and other reasons for mass gatherings."
9. Wide shot, press conference room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO:
"COVID-19 has had a profound effect on people living with HIV, as it has for many diseases. There is some evidence that people living with HIV may have an increased risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19. This increased risk has been compounded by disruptions to treatment for people living with HIV. In a WHO survey of 127 countries earlier this year, more than a quarter reported partial disruption to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV. However, with support from WHO and the work of health and community workers, the number of countries reporting disruptions in HIV services has declined by almost 75 percent since June."
11. Wide shot, press conference room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Meg Doherty, Director of Global HIV, Hepatitis, STIs Programme:
"What we've seen in at least HIV services is that early on, we saw some dipping in terms of the number of people getting tested, the number of people getting put onto treatment, and that can have effects over the long-term of increased deaths, increased new infections. But we've seen over since June, up until November, sort of a rebound whereas the cases are lower, systems have been able to regroup and put more people back onto therapy, shore up their ARV stocks, make sure that they have adequate supplies. ensure that the healthcare workers are doing multiple tests. Not only taking care of COVID testing, combining COVID and HIV testing with TB testing. So that essentially the healthcare workers can start to rebuild and build back better."
13. Wide shot, press conference room
"COVID-19 has had a profound effect on people living with HIV,” said the head of the WHO Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus at the press briefing in Geneva on Monday, adding that the increased risk from COVID-19 for people living with HIV is “compounded by disruptions in treatment.”
“In a WHO survey of 127 countries earlier this year, more than a quarter reported partial disruption to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO. “However, with support from WHO and the work of health and community workers, the number of countries reporting disruptions in HIV services has declined by almost 75 percent since June."
"What we've seen in at least HIV services is that early on, we saw some dipping in terms of the number of people getting tested, the number of people getting put onto treatment, and that can have effects over the long-term of increased deaths, increased new infections. But we've seen over since June, up until November, sort of a rebound whereas the cases are lower, systems have been able to regroup and put more people back onto therapy, shore up their ARV stocks, make sure that they have adequate supplies. ensure that the healthcare workers are doing multiple tests,” said Dr Meg Doherty, Director of Global HIV, Hepatitis, STIs Programme.
With the approaching holiday season, Dr Tedros warned "this is no time for complacency.”
“We all want to be together with the people we love during festive periods,” he said. “But being with family and friends is not worth putting them or yourself at risk. We all need to consider whose life we might be gambling with in the decisions we make."
Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme said “WHO does not “hold a position on whether something should be canceled or not canceled because the circumstances change in each and every jurisdiction. So, we would advise that all countries look at their ski season and other reasons for mass gatherings."
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