WHO suggests keeping containment measures in place

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The rising numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide prompted the World Health Organization to declare a "pandemic" on Wednesday. The WHO director-general said the agency is keeping an eye on the outbreak and is deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread, severity and inaction.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will suspend all travel from Europe to the U.S. for 30 days ‪starting Friday. Italy has declared a nation-wide lockdown, directing bars and restaurants to shut down after a surge in the death toll, more than any country, since the outbreak began. What more does the international community need to do? What's likely to happen for the "next layer" countries such as America and Germany? CGTN's Tian Wei caught up with Tarik Jašarević, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, in an exclusive interview.

"First, we don't know what is going to happen next and prefer not to make predictions from our side, but rather focus on solutions. And what we are saying to every country is please still do containment measures. It is much easier to do it when you have a few cases, rather than when you have thousands of cases," said Jašarević.

He also highlighted that these containment measures are very important and countries should not give up on them. Instead, countries should do what China, South Korea and Singapore have done. He said those countries have taken very stronger basic public health actions in terms of epidemiological surveillance. And that's basically finding people who are infected by testing them, treating them, and looking for their close contacts and in that way trying to slow down or interrupt the transmission chain.

According to Jašarević, at some point people need to introduce some other measures such as social distancing. Social distancing comes at social cost, so there is no blanket recommendation from the WHO. Countries have to do their own analysis based on their situation.

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So, what can China do next in order to successfully end the crisis?

The WHO has said that there is something to be learned from China. It was difficult for people to live in Wuhan, but those measures worked. It shows all of us that this pandemic can be fought against and won over, Jašarević noted.

"But it is important to keep strengthening the healthcare system. We never know how this virus can go. It's a new virus. And we have seen in the past with other diseases and other outbreaks that epidemiological curve can go up and down. You can have setbacks easily and that can happen anywhere," he said.

World Insight with Tian Wei is an international debate/in-depth interview program facilitated by host Tian Wei. People in the know, be they global leaders or emerging change-makers, all provide their insights on this unique global platform.

Schedule: Monday-Saturday

Time (GMT): 1415, 2015

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