April 10 will mark 100 days since the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of the first COVID-19 cases.
In a media briefing, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke about the health organization’s progress in the past 100 days and their plans for the future in order to help alleviate suffering by saving lives.
When the first cases of human-to-human transmission were reported outside of China, the WHO’s counter-COVID-19 measures included a comprehensive package of guidance to countries on how to detect, test and manage potential cases.
They also published information on how to protect healthcare workers and declare a public health emergency of international concern – the organization’s highest classified level of alarm.
The health organization has worked closely with governments around the world, through their 6 regional and 150 country offices, to help them prepare their health systems for the coronavirus.
So far, more than two million personal protective equipment (PPE) items have been shipped to 133 countries, while another batch of the same amount is being prepared for shipping in the coming few weeks.
Today, 130 scientists, funders and manufacturers from around the world have signed statements to commit to working with the WHO to help develop a COVID-19 vaccine quicker.
At least one person was killed and 10 injured, including three children, in overnight drone attacks by Russia on Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday. Various attacks also damaged energy facilities in two regions, according to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuation of population.
A fourth US Army soldier, who together with three others went missing in Lithuania last week when their vehicle sank in a peat bog, has been found dead, US and Lithuanian officials said on Tuesday.
The United Nations on Tuesday dismissed as "ridiculous" an assertion by Israel that there was enough food in the Gaza Strip to last for a long period of time, despite the closure of all 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP).
United Nations officials who surveyed earthquake damage in Myanmar urged the global community to ramp up aid before the looming monsoon season worsens already catastrophic conditions, with the death toll at 2,719 and expected to surpass 3,000.