The World Health Organization’s Director General stressed in today’s update on the COVID-19 epidemic that the only way to fight this common enemy, in a globalized world, is to stand together and every day the epidemic can be slowed is another day that hospitals and governments can prepare and one day closer to vaccines.

Tedros Ghebreyesus says WHO has been monitoring the possible disruption of medicine supplies as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic with China being a Major producer of products used to produce medicines in other countries.
He says the WHO has been monitoring the risk to the most essential medicines and haven’t identified any imminent specific shortages.

“Many manufacturers either have alternative sources of ingredients, or had stocks to draw on. Manufacturing has now resumed in most places in China, although some challenges remain.”

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is geographically expanding and deeply concerning and those most affected have lower income and weaker health systems.

Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the W-H-O Health Emergencies Programmes, says they have no evidence that COVID-19 would be slowed down by a change in seasons.

“We do not know yet what the activity or the behavior of this virus will be in different climatic conditions. We have to assume the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread and it’s a false hope to say, yes, it will just disappear in the summer time like influenza.”

The W-H-O again reiterated that many things people can do to protect themselves and their family include washing their hands, practicing respiratory etiquette, and being well-informed with accurate information.