HEALTH Governments told to take charge, not leave it to health ministry Take virus outbreak seriously, says WHO

Beijing, March 6: World health officials have warned that countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the US where medical workers sounded warnings over a “disturbing” lack of hospital preparedness.

Cases soared in Italy, France, Greece and Iran, while a cruise ship was held off the coast of California to test passengers showing symptoms of the disease — echoing a harrowing episode in Japan several weeks ago that saw hundreds infected on a luxury liner.

The epidemic has wreaked havoc on international business, tourism, sports events and schools, with almost 300 million students sent home worldwide. Even religion is affected: The Vatican said Pope Francis may have to change his schedule, Bethlehem was placed under lockdown, and Saudi Arabia emptied Islam’s holiest site in Mecca to sterilise it.

China — where the virus emerged late last year — still accounts for the majority of cases and deaths, but infections are now rising faster abroad, with South Korea, Iran and Italy major hotspots.

The WHO warned Thursday that a “long list" of countries were not showing “the level of political commitment” needed

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“This is not a drill,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. “This epidemic is a threat for every country, rich and poor." Tedros called on the heads of government in every country to take charge of the response and “coordinate all sectors”, rather than leaving it to health ministries. What is needed, he said, is “aggressive preparedness”. In the US, the largest nursing union said a survey of thousands of nurses at hospitals showed “truly disturbing” results. “They show that a large percentage of our nation's hospitals are unprepared to safely handle COVID-19,” said Jane Thomason, a hygiene specialist with the union. Nurses are working without necessary personal protective equipment and lack education and training for handling the disease, said National Nurses United director Bonnie Castillo.

Over 180 people are infected in the US. But President Donald Trump has downplayed the risk, saying the WHO’s conclusion of a 3.4 per cent mortality rate was “false”.

Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary of health, estimated the death rate at “somewhere between 0.1 per cent and one per cent” due to a high number of unreported cases. A National Guard helicopter dropped test kits on the deck of the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of San Francisco to determine if any of the nearly 3,500 guests and crew had contracted the coronavirus.