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GENEVA / BEIJING: The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the WHO’s highest level of alarm.
PHEIC was declared on January 30 by the new coronavirus outbreak, when there were only 82 cases of Covid-19 outside of China.
As of 2 am (0000 GMT) on Saturday, the WHO said it had received reports of 3,181,642 confirmed cases, including 224,301 deaths worldwide.
The WHO Director-General is responsible for determining a PHEIC and the decision must be reviewed every three months, in accordance with the International Health Regulations.
“As we have clearly done from the beginning, we will continue to ask countries to implement a comprehensive package of measures to find, isolate, test and treat every case, and track every contact,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , in a virtual press conference from here.
After more than three months of arduous fighting, Wuhan, the central Chinese city, once again affected by the coronavirus outbreak, cleared all cases of COVID-19 in hospitals on April 26.
“It is very, very good news,” said Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, technical leader of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, at the conference. “So congratulations on this achievement.”
He appreciates the “tireless efforts” of the people in Wuhan.
“We take off our hats before you and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you have been able to do,” he said.
The WHO also reiterated that the coronavirus is “naturally occurring” at Friday’s conference.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on lives and economies.
The Indian Health Ministry said on Saturday that an additional 1,971 positive cases and 66 new deaths had been reported since Friday night, and Singapore reported 932 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country at 17,101.
The number of Covid-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 1.1 million GMT on Friday at 2340 GMT, according to the Johns Hopkins University count, and the number of deaths from the disease reached 64,789 across the country.
The data shows that economic activity in manufacturing sectors in both the United States and the United Kingdom plummeted to record lows.
The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that the United States Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell 7.6 percentage points to 41.5 percent in April, the lowest since April 2009, at amid the increasing decline of Covid-19 and weak global energy markets.
PMI for Britain’s manufacturing sector fell to 32.6 in April, according to data released by IHS MARKIT / CIPS, as output, new orders and employment contracted at the fastest rates in nearly 30 years.
Any reading below 50% indicates that the manufacturing sector is generally contracting. – Xinhua / Asian News Network
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