Good afternoon.
As usual, I’ll start with the latest numbers.
As of 6am Geneva time today, there were 40,235 confirmed cases in China, and 909 deaths.
Outside China, there are 319 cases in 24 countries, with 1 death.
The overall pattern has not changed. 99% of reported cases are in China, and most cases are mild. About 2% of cases are fatal – which of course is still too many.
A lot of people are asking, where is the outbreak going? Is it getting better, is it getting worse?
We are doing several things to answer those questions.
First, the meeting on research and innovation starting tomorrow will identify some of those questions and chart a path forward.
Second, an advance team of WHO experts has just arrived in China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, to lay the groundwork for the larger international team.
Bruce and his colleagues will be working with their Chinese counterparts to make sure we have the right expertise on the team to answer the right questions.
We’re grateful for the many people who have volunteered their expertise from all over the world.
In recent days we have seen some concerning instances of onward transmission from people with no travel history to China, like the cases reported in France yesterday and the UK today.
The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire.
But for now, it’s only a spark. Our objective remains containment. We call on all countries to use the window of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire.
As part of those preparations, WHO is working to equip laboratories with the capacity to rapidly diagnose cases.
Without vital diagnostic capacity, countries are in the dark as to how far and wide the virus has spread – and who has coronavirus or another disease with similar symptoms.
We have now identified 168 labs around the world with the right technology to diagnose coronavirus.
We have sent kits to Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
Many of those countries have already started using them.
Another shipment of 150,000 tests is being assembled in Berlin today, and is destined for more than 80 labs in all regions.
Last week the African CDC conducted training in Senegal with 12 countries, using tests sent by WHO. Further training will take place in South Africa next week.
WHO will continue working with all countries to prevent and detect rapidly new cases of coronavirus, and to save lives.
Thank you.