The World Health Organization warned Friday that the window of opportunity to stem the new coronavirus outbreak was shrinking, amid concern over a surge in cases with no clear link to China.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has for weeks insisted the low number of cases of COVID-19 outside the epicentre of the deadly outbreak in China’s central Hubei province presented a “window of opportunity” to contain the international spread. But on Friday he said that while “we are still in a phase where containment is possible… our window of opportunity is narrowing”. “That’s why we called (on) the international community to act quickly, including the financing,” he told reporters in Geneva. How did the outbreak start? The outbreak which began in December has killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,500 in China, while more than 1,150 people have been infected and eight have died across 26 other countries. Also Read: China backs Pakistan’s decision to not evacuate students from coronavirus lockdown