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STORY: WHO / COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 5:03
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 MAY 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, WHO headquarters exterior
11 MAY 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Over the weekend we saw signs of the challenges that may lie ahead. In the Republic of Korea, bars and clubs were shut as a confirmed case led to many contacts being traced. In Wuhan, China, the first cluster of cases since their lockdown was lifted was identified. Germany has also reported an increase in cases since an easing of restrictions. Fortunately, all three countries have systems in place to detect and respond to a resurgence in cases.”
4. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Countries like Germany and countries like Korea shouldn't be criticized, for looking, for finding, for being alert, for being ready and reacting quickly and engaging quickly to investigate, to isolate, to trace and to track; because that's what we've been saying. The virus is still here. So even as you lift lockdowns even in low incidents situations, even in a place like Korea where the incidents are, the number of cases per day had dropped to a very low level. They didn't let their guard down. They knew the virus is still here.”
6. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I think now we're seeing some hope as many countries exits these so-called lockdowns, and this is good. It allows economic life to return, but extreme vigilance is required and not just vigilance, Many countries, as the DG has said, have made very systematic investments in building up their public health capacities during the lockdowns. Others have not. And we need every country now to put in place the necessary public health measures or the public health surveillance in order to be able to at least have a chance of avoiding larger second waves later.”
8. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“There was an assumption as this disease spread around the world, that we're really just seeing the severe cases and the difficult cases of when the seroepidemiology comes that will demonstrate that, most of the people have been affected, and this will all be over, and we'll go back to normal business. Well, the preliminary results from the seroepidemiologic studies is showing the opposite. It's showing that the proportion of people with significant clinical illness is actually a higher proportion of all those who've been infected because the number of people infected in the total population is probably much lower than we expected. And as Maria said, that means we have a long way to go.”
10. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The evidence thus far is that there is very little evidence to suggest that there are people who are persistently suffering from COVID-19. Although when you see the data from the hospitals and the length of admission, it is taking many people a very long time to recover in a hospital environment, and we should expect that when people are discharged, that recovery continues and people don't necessarily just bounce back to full health. Although when they are discharged from hospital, it is safe for them to return for themselves and their families. “
12. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical Lead for COVID-19, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We are looking at the number of healthcare worker infections that have been reported globally. And there is an alarming number of healthcare worker infections. In some countries, upwards of 10 percent of the reported cases are among healthcare workers. What we've done and what we are continuing to do is to better understand where healthcare workers are getting infected, why healthcare workers are getting infected, and how can we ensure that this is reduced, and this stops.”
14. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“On children going back to school, decision makers should reflect on a number of key factors when deciding on whether and how to reopen the schools. First, a clear understanding about current COVID transmission and severity of the virus in children is needed. Second, the epidemiology of COVID-19 where the school is geographically located, needs to be considered. Third, the ability to maintain COVID-19 prevention and control measures within the school setting.”
16. Wide shot, WHO officials in press room
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said, “Over the weekend we saw signs of the challenges that may lie ahead,” with new cases reported in Wuhan and South Korea, and Germany reporting an increase in cases since easing restrictions.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva today (11 May), Tedros said bars and clubs in South Korea were shut “as a confirmed case led to many contacts being traced. In Wuhan, China, the first cluster of cases since their lockdown was lifted was identified. Germany has also reported an increase in cases since an easing of restrictions.” Tedros added, “Fortunately, all three countries have systems in place to detect and respond to a resurgence in cases.”
Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said countries like Germany and South Korea should not be criticized, “for looking, for finding, for being alert, for being ready and reacting quickly and engaging quickly to investigate, to isolate, to trace and to track; because that's what we've been saying. The virus is still here.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Ryan, Executive Director, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I think now we're seeing some hope as many countries exits these so-called lockdowns, and this is good. It allows economic life to return, but extreme vigilance is required and not just vigilance, Many countries, as the DG has said, have made very systematic investments in building up their public health capacities during the lockdowns. Others have not. And we need every country now to put in place the necessary public health measures or the public health surveillance in order to be able to at least have a chance of avoiding larger second waves later.”
Ryan said there was an assumption as COVID-19 spread around the world that “we're really just seeing the severe cases and the difficult cases of when the seroepidemiology comes that will demonstrate that, most of the people have been affected, and this will all be over, and we'll go back to normal business.” He noted however, that the preliminary results from the seroepidemiologic studies show the opposite, with the higher proportion clinically ill people “because the number of people infected in the total population is probably much lower than we expected.”
The Executive Director said there is “very little evidence to suggest that there are people who are persistently suffering from COVID-19,” although data from hospitals shows that recovery time in a hospital is very long.
WHO’s Technical Lead for COVID-19 Maria Van Kerkhove said there was “an alarming number” of healthcare worker infections, representing up to 10 percent of cases in some countries. She said WHO was continuing to better understand “where healthcare workers are getting infected, why healthcare workers are getting infected, and how can we ensure that this is reduced, and this stops.”
Regarding children returnin to school, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said decision makers should reflect on a number of key factors when deciding on whether and how to reopen the schools. He said, “First, a clear understanding about current COVID transmission and severity of the virus in children is needed. Second, the epidemiology of COVID-19 where the school is geographically located, needs to be considered. Third, the ability to maintain COVID-19 prevention and control measures within the school setting.”
