WHO Tells South East Asia To Scale-up COVID-19 Fight

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged South East Asian countries to scale-up their fight against deadly coronavirus

ANKARA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2020 ) :The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged South East Asian countries to scale-up their fight against deadly coronavirus.

WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said the region should "urgently scale-up aggressive measures" to stem the spread of the virus known as COVID-19.

"The situation is evolving rapidly. We need to immediately scale up all efforts to prevent the virus from infecting more people," Singh said in a statement issued late Tuesday from the Indian capital New Delhi.

She noted that coronavirus case numbers were "increasing quickly" in the region where eight of the 11 countries have confirmed cases with Thailand 177 confirmed cases, Indonesia 134, India 125, Sri Lanka 19, Maldives 13, Bangladesh 5, Nepal and Bhutan one each.

These 11 countries are home to over a quarter of the global population.

"More clusters of virus transmission are being confirmed. While this is an indication of an alert and effective surveillance, it also puts the spotlight on the need for more aggressive and whole of society efforts to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

We clearly need to do more, and urgently," Singh said.

She warned that given the numbers of the virus, "some countries are clearly heading towards community transmission of COVID-19".

"Of critical importance are continued efforts to detect, test, treat, isolate and trace contacts," Singh added.

"However, if community transmission does set in, countries would need to gear their responses to slow down transmission, as well as end outbreaks," she added.

Worldwide, out of over 199,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 7,900, while more than 82,500 patients have recovered, according to Worldometer, a website that compiles new case numbers.

The number of active cases is more than 108,500 -- 94% mild and 6% in critical condition, according to the website.

The WHO has declared Europe the new epicenter of the virus, which first emerged in Wuhan, China last December.