China coronavirus: WHO says virus not global health emergency

HEALTH

'Now is not the time': WHO says coronavirus not yet global health emergency

CTVNews.ca Staff

Published Thursday, January 23, 2020 8:35AM EST Last Updated Thursday, January 23, 2020 3:51PM EST

Text:

TORONTO -- A committee of world health officials said Thursday that 鈥渘ow is not the time鈥� to call a global health emergency related to a new coronavirus that has left 17 dead and more than 500 others infected in China.

The World Health Organization made the announcement in Geneva at a press conference after the second meeting this week of a WHO emergency advisory committee on the new virus.

It was 鈥渁 bit too early to consider that this event is a public health emergency of international concern,鈥� said Didier Houssin, the chair of the emergency advisory committee, noting that there remained strong divisions during discussions.

鈥淭he emergency committee members were very divided, almost 50-50,鈥� he said. Some felt the severity of the disease and increase in cases warranted a global health emergency, he added.

鈥淪everal others say that it is too early because of limited number of cases abroad and also considering the efforts which are presently made by Chinese authorities in order to try to contain the disease,鈥� he continued. 鈥淒eclaring a public health emergency of international concern is an important step in the history of an epidemic.鈥�

A 鈥減ublic health emergency of international concern鈥� (PHEIC) must be an 鈥渆xtraordinary event鈥� that poses a global risk and requires co-ordinated international action, according to WHO. Global emergencies have been declared before, including for the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas, the swine flu and polio.

PRECAUTIONS IN CHINA

Key to the announcement were recent extraordinary precautions already in place around China. Beijing announced it would cancel public celebrations of Lunar New Year, which is typically one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, has been placed on a lockdown.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e making a very concerted effort in China to try and contain things. We鈥檙e making efforts worldwide. That鈥檚 the most important thing,鈥� said Susy Hota, the medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at the University Health Network in Toronto, on 麻豆影视 Channel. The committee was likely attempting to strike a 鈥渂alance鈥� to avoid negative consequences, Hota added.

Global health emergencies often prompt foreign governments to restrict travel and trade to affected countries. In 2003, WHO issued travel warnings for Toronto during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which impacted the Greater Toronto Area economy at the time. Hotels in the area lost $39 million in revenue in one month, according to the Canadian Tourism Commission.

鈥淚t would be very similar for China,鈥� said infectious disease physician Michael Gardam on CTV鈥檚 Your Morning. 鈥淧eople would definitely avoid the country.鈥�

INFORMATION MISSING

There are still a number of 鈥渦nknowns鈥� to be probed, WHO said at the Thursday press conference, including the possible animal source of the virus, its mode of transmission and the quality of containment measures.

The WHO announcement was encouraging for Neil Rau, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

鈥淚f they had said it was an emergency, it would mean they were more concerned,鈥� he told 麻豆影视 Channel, adding that the announcement underscored the fact that the committee still needs more information on two key things:

First, how deadly is the virus? 鈥淲hat percentage of people who get this infection actually die from it? Based on my calculations it looks like it鈥檚 only about two per cent.鈥�

Second, how contagious is the virus? 鈥淚t鈥檚 looking right now that there are no chains of transmission beyond what we call a secondary chain,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n other words, a person has it, then a person in close contact with them gets it, but it doesn鈥檛 keep transmitting person-to-person after that.鈥�

The committee added Thursday that they would be prepared to convene again 鈥渁s soon as necessary鈥� as more information emerges.

PREPARATION IN CANADA

A global health emergency likely would not have changed much in Canada, according to Gardam, much in thanks to 17 years of preparation for another outbreak after SARS.

鈥淲别 learned a lot from SARS. We also went through the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. So there鈥檚 been a lot of preparation done quietly in the background,鈥� he said.

In Canada, travellers from Wuhan are screened, others are put in isolation who have symptoms, and hospitals have stockpiled necessary equipment for an outbreak. Those procedures would continue, said Gardam. It鈥檚 possible that a broader screening process to include travellers from Beijing or China in general may be implemented, he added. But that is less about the declaration from WHO, and more about where the virus is linked to in China.

鈥淲别 may start to broaden our screening criteria. As we do that, we鈥檙e going to start screening a lot more people,鈥� he said.

On the ground, that process would have a major impact for health care workers. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to be quite disruptive for the running of our hospitals,鈥� he said. 鈥淲别鈥檙e already pretty full dealing with all the other respiratory viruses.鈥�

With files from The Associated Press

RELATED IMAGES

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Director General of the World Health Organization, WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, left, and Professor Didier Houssin, the Chair of the Emergency Committee hold a press conference after an Emergency Committee meeting on what scientists have identified as a new coronavirus, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Health authorities are closely watching an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a new virus from China. Governments are stepping up surveillance of airline passengers from central China and taking other steps to try to control the outbreak. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
From background, centre left, Maria van Kerkhove, Head of Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses Unit, Director General of the World Health Organization, WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,Professor Didier Houssin, the Chair of the Emergency Committee and Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies programme, hold a press conference after an Emergency Committee meeting on what scientists have identified as a new coronavirus, at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Health authorities are closely watching an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a new virus from China. Governments are stepping up surveillance of airline passengers from central China and taking other steps to try to control the outbreak. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
In this Jan. 22, 2020, photo released on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, by China's Xinhua News Agency, medical workers of the Union Hospital with the Tongji Medical College of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan participate in a ceremony to form an "assault team" to battle against a coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 23, 2020. China closed off a city of more than 11 million people Thursday in an unprecedented effort to try to contain a deadly new viral illness that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush. (Cheng Min/Xinhua via AP)