New high-throughput test technologies that can process thousands of COVID-19 samples a day are coming online. But the CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, which recently gained US Food and Drug Administration approval for a new high-volume test, asserted Thursday that “broad-based testing is simply not feasible.” Severin Schwan, Roche CEO, was speaking at a press conference […] Continue reading ->
A worldwide shortage of chemical reagents needed for COVID-19 testing has emerged, World Health Organization officials admitted on Wednesday – even as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide surpassed the 200,000 mark. Reports of shortages come days after WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued an urgent appeal to countries […] Continue reading ->
A leading medicines access group in Europe has issued a protest against the high price of COVID-19 tests in France, amidst rising concerns that the cost of the diagnostic test may also be limiting the number of people who are being tested in Europe – the new global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. In France, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization issued an urgent call for countries worldwide to dramatically scale up COVID-19 testing, followed by stricter isolation of confirmed cases and contact tracing – saying that those steps are critical to getting the accelerating pandemic under control. But there was far less clarity from WHO about the use of travel restrictions. […] Continue reading ->
Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China, said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Even more worrisome, there are now more new cases being reported everyday in Europe, which has a population of about 741 million […] Continue reading ->
With escalating COVID-19 outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, some countries are heeding the World Health Organization’s advice and ramping up containment measures, while others, including Switzerland, home to WHO’s Geneva Headquarters, appeared more resigned to the uncontrolled spread of the disease in the wake of yesterday’s declaration of a COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
As the COVID-19 crisis seeps into financial markets, corporate board rooms, and global health systems, there may be one silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud. The 21st century era of digital health, virtual meetings and teleworking is upon us. Countries as far-flung as the Republic of Korea, Israel and even some forward-looking US health […] Continue reading ->
As cases of COVID-19 surpassed 120,000 around the world, the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a pandemic – a move the organization stressed was intended to “trigger” even more aggressive action from governments against the virus rather than surrender to its rapid spread. In line with current trends, numbers of COVID-19 cases, deaths and […] Continue reading ->
The World Trade Organization’s director general Roberto Azevêdo announced on Tuesday that he was suspending all WTO meetings at its Geneva offices, following the confirmation of a COVID-19 case among staff. It was the first publicly-announced case of the novel coronavirus infection at a Geneva-based United Nations or UN-affiliated organization since the epidemic began, which […] Continue reading ->