WHO Concerned Some Countries Not Taking COVID-19 Seriously

GENEVA: China's experience has shown fundamental measures are working to contain COVID-19, such as measures of identifying cases and contacts, also like mobilizing population, an epidemiologist of the planet Health Organization (WHO) noted here Thursday, calling on countries to make full use of them.

Deeply touched by absolute drive of each person she met in China amid the epidemic, Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, told a daily briefing that everybody in China knows their role in the COVID-19 outbreak, adding they are well aware how to guard themselves and their families, as well as what they have to do collectively to bring the epidemic under control, the Xinhua press agency reported.

WHO is worried that some countries have either not taken COVID-19 seriously enough, or have decided there's nothing they can do because the number of nations reporting cases keeps rising, especially those with weaker health systems.

Apart from China, Kerkhove noted, those fundamental measures are getting used in other countries like Singapore and Vietnam also , stressing "that are some things every country can do".

Even if confirmed cases were reported in a country, it doesn't suggest clusters or large-scale outbreak would be sure to occur, Kerkhove said, adding that it doesn't suggest the epidemic would go of control either.