WHO Warning About Potential Global Coronavirus Pandemic
The widespread statistics of coronavirus infection have concerned the World Health Organization. The organization has particularly viewed the sudden surge in patients with this virus in Iran, Italy, and South Korea as alarming.
The rapid spread of coronavirus infection has alarmed the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the French news agency, the World Health Organization has called on the international community to prepare itself for a potential “pandemic” of COVID-19 disease resulting from coronavirus infection.
Tedros Adhanom, the head of the World Health Organization, has particularly described the sudden increase in the number of infected people in Iran, Italy, and South Korea as “deeply concerning.”
Iran, which reported its first cases of COVID-19 on February 19, announced on March 3 that the death toll had reached 12 people. Kianush Jahanpur, the head of the Information and Public Relations Center of Iran’s Health Ministry, announced on Monday that the number of infected people was 61.
While social networks have been at the forefront of spreading news of coronavirus cases in various Iranian cities, considering the official published statistics as only a glimpse of reality, Jahanpur rejected statements made by Qom’s representative in parliament about 50 deaths from this disease in that city alone, calling it “demoralizing to the people’s spirits.”
Ahmad Amiraabadi Farahani, Qom’s representative in the parliament’s open session on Monday, described the government’s response to coronavirus as “zero,” stating that even nurses do not have proper quarantine clothing. According to him, “10 people die daily in Qom” from the consequences of this disease.
Coronavirus’s Rampage in Italy
Only Italy, as of Monday, had reported over 200 new cases with five deaths. Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Iraq have also reported cases of infection.
Italy has become Europe’s largest center of this disease in a short period. From Friday until now, five people in this country have died from infection with the new coronavirus or “SARS-CoV-2.” The number of “coronavirus-positive” patients has reached 219. Deaths have been particularly reported in patients who were elderly and had underlying diseases.
Italian authorities, after observing the first deaths from coronavirus, implemented strict measures. Ten regions, including Lombardy and Veneto, were quarantined. Carnival celebrations in Venice, major football matches, and other large gatherings were all canceled. Schools and universities in all coronavirus-affected areas have been closed, and many public facilities and cinemas have shut down.
Europe Faces Coronavirus
Roberto Speranza, Italy’s Health Minister, announced an emergency meeting scheduled for Tuesday in Rome with his counterparts in neighboring countries, including Jens Spahn, Germany’s Health Minister. The meeting will discuss cross-border strategies for combating coronavirus infection.
Germany’s Health Minister has stated that if disease transmission in Germany increases further, additional precautionary measures may be taken in the country. The Robert Koch Institute in Germany is currently reviewing samples suspected of coronavirus.
Despite the increasing transmission of COVID-19, 26 Schengen area countries have not yet felt the need to close their borders, and according to the European Union, there are currently no plans for border controls. Italy’s borders remain open. Germany’s Foreign Ministry has only asked Italian travelers to enter their names on the crisis response list and keep up with news regularly.
Despite this, two suspected coronavirus cases disrupted a train journey from Venice to Munich last night, and Austrian authorities did not allow the train to resume its journey until the test results for two German women were confirmed.
In Mauritania as well, dozens of passengers coming from Lombardy and Veneto in Italy were forced to wait for hours on an airplane. Furthermore, in Lyon, France, passengers on a bus departing from Milan were not allowed to disembark because the driver had shown suspicious clinical signs.
China, which was the origin of this disease and whose death toll has risen from 150 to 2,592, canceled the National People’s Congress scheduled for early March for the first time in its history since the Cultural Revolution.
The sudden increase of coronavirus-positive patients in South Korea from 161 to 763 people has also caused many countries to severely limit their travel to this country.
Source: DW
