The United States is seeking to fundamentally change the World Health Organization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday after Washington decided to withhold contributions during the coronavirus pandemic. The United States is the top donor to the WHO, offering US$400 million last year.
Brazil likely has 12 times more cases of the new coronavirus than are being officially reported by the government, with too little testing and long waits to confirm the results, according to a study released this week.
Discussions are underway on enabling wider access to some patented drugs and medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the UN's intellectual property agency said on Tuesday.
By Gwynne Dyer – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has run afoul of the language police. Last week, he called the coronavirus, which already has killed 0.000013 percent of the world’s population, the “Wuhan virus.” When challenged about this criminal violation of linguistic propriety, he just said it again. The World Health Organization (WHO) was shocked.
The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic on Wednesday as it spreads in more than 100 countries around the world. WHO defines a pandemic as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” The determination is based on the geographic spread of a disease, the severity of illnesses it causes, and its effects on society.
The coronavirus epidemic caused more death and disruption on Tuesday spreading to new countries as a top health official warned the world was “simply not ready” to contain it. Even as the number of fresh cases declines at the epicenter of the disease in China, there has been a sudden increase in parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
The World Health Organization on Monday said the new coronavirus epidemic had “peaked” in China but warned that a surge in cases elsewhere was “deeply concerning” and all countries should prepare for a “potential pandemic”.
China's coronavirus outbreak poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world” and should be viewed as “Public Enemy Number 1”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Brazil's lower house of Congress late approved a bill laying out rules for the quarantine of Brazilian nationals returning from China who may be infected with coronavirus, as well as other measures to combat the disease. The measures will be in force as long as the public health emergency declared by the World Health Organization is in place.
China reported an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in Shaoyang city of the southern province of Hunan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Sunday.