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 ->
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to redouble their efforts on COVID-19 containment, saying that China’s stunning success shows that goal still may be attainable – even as 16,470 new cases of the fatal virus mushroomed elsewhere across the globe in the past 24 hours. “This not a drill. This is not […] Continue reading ->
The World Bank on Tuesday announced the immediate release of US$12 billion to support countries struggling to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. That followed news that the global death rate from the novel coronavirus was now averaging around 3.4% as compared to around 2% of cases previously reported by WHO. In comparison, estimated fatality rates […] Continue reading ->
As Iran faces one of the most serious surges in COVID-19 cases around the world, WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed US President Donald Trump’s olive branch toward its bitter enemy, who on Monday told the Conservative Political Action Congress  “if we can help the Iranians with this problem we are certainly willing […] Continue reading ->