Thread by @kakape

“There have now been more than 4 million cases of #covid19 across the world”, says @DrTedros as #Covid19 presser starts at @WHO. “The good news is that there has been a great deal of success in slowing the virus and ultimately saving lives."

@DrTedros @WHO Weekend showed difficulty in releasing lockdown, says @DrTedros
- S Korea closed bars and clubs after cases
- Wuhan saw its first cluster since lockdown lifted
- Germany also saw an uptick
"Fortunately all 3 countries have systems in place to detect and respond to a resurgence"

@DrTedros @WHO .@DrTedros reiterates that “early serological studies reflect that a relatively low percentage of the population has antibodies to #covid19, which means most of the population is still susceptible to the virus”.

@DrTedros @WHO Q about HCW infections.
@mvankerkhove says
many infected outside of healthcare facilities.
Also notes two problems:
- early on, many cases identified in wards not used to respiratory diseases
- some individuals working very long shifts, sometimes without adequate PPE

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove Q about infections in children and opening schools.
@mvankerkhove says scientists are still trying to understand transmission in children. Available studies primarily show transmission from adults to children, much less transmission the other way around, she says.

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove Q from Brazil about serological studies.
More than 90 such studies are underway, says @mvankerkhove. The ones with full results published “have found a fairly low proportion of the people that have been tested have evidence of antibodies”, she says. Range is between 1 and 10%.

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove Great point on “herd immunity” from @DrMikeRyan. Says it "can lead to a very brutal arithmetic”. Points out it comes from veterinary world where health of the herd matters, not the health of the individual animal. “We need to be really careful”, he says. “Humans are not herds.”

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q: What is the message to countries seeing resurgence?
@DrMikeRyan: "thing here is that countries like Germany and countries like Korea should not be criticised for looking, for finding, for being alert, for being ready."

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Presser is over, but one important thing I didn’t have time to tweet from opening remarks by @DrTedros:
He said that new modeling from @WHO and @UNAIDS showed "importance of taking immediate steps to minimise interruptions in health services and supplies of antiretroviral drugs"

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan @UNAIDS Worst-case scenario, a 6 month disruption of antiretroviral therapy, could lead to 500,000 extra deaths from AIDS-related illnesses incl. TB, in sub-Saharan Africa over the next year. “This could effectively set the clock back by more than a decade to 2008”, says @DrTedros.

@DrTedros @WHO @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan @UNAIDS "This is an avoidable worst-case scenario and not a prediction”, he says. Should act as a wake-up call, This model acts as a wake-up call to "ensure that global supplies of tests and treatments for both HIV and TB reach the countries and communities that need them most."