Thread by @WHO

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros pscp.tv/w/ceBl-TI2MTAy…

"Yesterday I had the honour of being in Madrid to join King Felipe the Sixth and Prime Minister @sanchezcastejon for #Spain’s memorial for those who have lost their lives to #COVID19, and for the health workers fighting the pandemic"-@DrTedros

"Earlier in the week I was also honoured to be with President @EmmanuelMacron in Paris for the #BastilleDay celebrations, which were also a celebration of #France’s heroic #healthworkers"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Both 🇪🇸 & 🇫🇷 are good examples of the four essential pillars of the #COVID19 response:
strong & humble leadership
community engagement
suppressing transmission
saving lives.

And both countries are rightly recognizing the incredible contribution of #healthworkers"-@DrTedros

"WHO welcomes the pay rise for French #healthworkers announced on Monday.

The #COVID19 pandemic has shown us that there is no health without health workers"-@DrTedros

"I was especially touched in Madrid yesterday by a speech given by a nurse called Aroa López. I want to read you some of what she said.

𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
"-@DrTedros

"...
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 – 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 – 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴"
"-@DrTedros quoting Aroa López

“...
𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦"
"-@DrTedros quoting Aroa López

"...𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, ‘𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.'”
"-@DrTedros quoting Aroa López

"Ms López finished her remarks with this appeal:

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 & 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳... "
-@DrTedros

"...𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 & 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴”
-@DrTedros quoting Aroa López

"We all owe #healthworkers an enormous debt – not just because they have cared for the sick. But because they have risked their own lives in the line of duty"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"So far, about 10% of all #COVID19 cases globally are among #healthworkers.

Many health workers are also suffering physical and psychological exhaustion after months of working in extremely stressful environments"-@DrTedros

"To support #healthworkers, WHO has published guidance & training packages on how they can protect themselves.

We’re also driving research to better understand the extent of #COVID19 infection among health workers and the risk factors for infection"-@DrTedros

"We’re also shipping millions of items of protective gear around the world and ensuring health facilities are properly equipped"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Although #COVID19 has rightly captured the world’s attention, we must also remember it is not the only crisis the world is facing.

Many countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East, are still reeling from years of conflict and other humanitarian crises"-@DrTedros

"#COVID19 threatens to exacerbate many of these crises.
The pandemic, and the restrictions put in place to suppress it, are taking a heavy toll on 220 million people in protracted emergencies"-@DrTedros

"While it is too early to assess the full impact of so-called lockdowns and other containment measures, up to 132 million more people may go hungry in 2020, in addition to the 690 million who went hungry last year"-@DrTedros #COVID19

"Deep budget cuts to education and rising poverty caused by the #COVID19 pandemic could force at least 9.7 million children out of school forever by the end of this year, with millions more falling behind in learning"-@DrTedros

"The economic impact of the #COVID19 pandemic in humanitarian settings can aggravate already dire living conditions – more displacement, food shortages, risk of malnutrition, decrease in access to essential services, mental health problems, and so on"-@DrTedros

"WHO is working through our 150 country offices to support the response to #COVID19, to support the continuity of essential health services, and to engage communities to ensure demand for these services is maintained"-@DrTedros

"It’s also vital that as an international community, we use this opportunity not only to respond to the #COVID19 pandemic, but to build health systems that are more resilient, and more able to withstand the impact of health emergencies"-@DrTedros

"The #COVID19 pandemic is teaching us that health is not a luxury item; it’s the foundation of social, economic & political stability"-@DrTedros #HealthForAll

"Three months ago, WHO launched its updated Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which estimates the resources needed to support WHO’s work on the #COVID19 pandemic"-@DrTedros

"But we all know that the impacts of the pandemic go far beyond health, and so do the needs, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable countries. That’s why the @UN launched the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for #COVID19 in March"-@DrTedros

"Today I’m honoured to welcome Mark Lowcock, @UNReliefChief, to present the Global Humanitarian Response Plan update.

The GHRP addresses the immediate humanitarian needs caused or exacerbated by #COVID19 in 63 priority countries with existing humanitarian crises"-@DrTedros

"If we fail to address the wider impacts of the #COVID19 pandemic, we risk an even greater crisis than the one brought about by the virus itself"-@DrTedros

"At the beginning of today’s briefing, I quoted the remarks made yesterday by the Spanish nurse Aroa López.

One of the other speakers at yesterday’s memorial was Fernando Hernandez Calleja, who lost his brother to #COVID19. I want to finish by quoting him:..."
-@DrTedros

“𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯."-@DrTedros quoting Fernando Hernandez Calleja

"𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴."-@DrTedros quoting Fernando Hernandez Calleja

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.”
-@DrTedros quoting Fernando Hernandez Calleja

"I want to echo Fernando’s call to the whole world. More than anything, we are asking for your compassion"-@DrTedros #COVID19