Coronavirus Outbreak (COVID - 19): WHO Update (6 April 2020)

The daily press briefing on coronavirus COVID-19, direct from WHO Headquarters, Geneva Switzerland with Dr Tedros WHO Director-General, Dr Micheal Ryan, Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Programme, and Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead, WHO Health Emergencies Programme with special guests Lady Gaga and Hugh Evans, CEO and Co-founder of Global Citizen. The Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus said, "medical masks must be prioritized for health workers on the front lines of the response, adding that the Organization is "concerned that the mass use of medical masks by the general population could exacerbate the shortage of these specialized masks for the people who need them most." Tedros today (06 Apr) said that WHO has been evaluating the use of medical and nonmedical masks for COVID-19 more widely, adding that "WHO is issuing guidance and criteria to support countries in making that decision. For example, countries could consider using masks in communities where other measures such as cleaning hands and physical distancing are harder to achieve because of lack of water or cramped living conditions." The Director-General also said, "what's clear is that there is limited research in this area. We encourage countries that are considering the use of masks for the general population to study their effectiveness. So we can all learn." He reiterated, "most importantly, masks should only ever be used as part of a comprehensive package of interventions. There is no black or white answer and no silver bullet." Also spoke to the reporter was WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove. She said, "what we know from reports, what we know from published literature is that the predominant way in which transmission is occurring is amongst the symptomatic individuals. And these are people that can be symptomatic very, very early on in symptoms. Even when they start to feel a little bit unwell." Kerkhove also said, "it's possible that people can transmit in the few days before they become symptomatic or in their presymptomatic phase. There have been some studies that have come out and we learned about this when we were on mission in China back in January and early February." She added, "however, it's very important to know that even if you are presymptomatic or even if you don't have any recognized symptoms, you still have to transmit through droplets. You still have to have these infectious particles that come out of your, out of your nose and your mouth. So we do, while we know that that is possible, we do not believe that that's a major driver of transmission." Micheal Ryan, WHO's Executive Director said, "having COVID-19 is not anybody's fault. Every case is a victim and every case needs to be treated with sensitivity, as the health workers who treat them. So it's very important that we not profiling COVID-19 along racial, along religious, along ethnic lines. This is not helpful." He also stated, "the most damaging lockdowns are in many developing countries where people, as the DG has said, many times, can live from hand to mouth, not from paycheck to paycheck, but from day to day. And we have to find adapted solutions around lockdown and around disease control in vulnerable peri-urban populations living in poverty, in poor rural communities. And we have to find other ways to manage alternative adapted ways to manage lockdowns or slowdowns, or shutdowns in those situations. Responding to a comment from last week about "a couple of scientists, who say the testing ground for the new vaccines will be Africa," Tedros said, "to be honest, I was so appalled and it was a time when I said when we needed solidarity, these kind of racist remarks, actually would not help. It goes against the solidarity." WHO and Global Citizen today also announced 'One World: Together at home' Global Special to support healthcare workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.