Thread by @kakape

#Covid19 presser @WHO starts with @DrTedros saying he was “shocked and appalled" to hear of attack on @MSF hospital in Afghanistan. “Civilians and health workers should never be a target”, he says. “We need peace for health and health for peace. We need it now."

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF "I urge all stakeholders to put aside politics and prioritize peace, a global ceasefire and ending this pandemic together”, says @DrTedros and leads a minute of silence.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF Mentions the annual World Health Statistics published today by @WHO.
Good news:
"Better maternal and child healthcare has led to a halving of child mortality since the year 2000”.
Biggest gains reported in low-income countries.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF But: Progress too slow to meet sustainable development goals “and will be further thrown off track by #covid19”.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF Inequality is key driver of #covid19 pandemic, says @drtedros:
"How is it that in 2020:
approximately 1 billion people are spending at least 10% of their household budgets on health care?
over 55% of countries have fewer than 40 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people"

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF Q: what needs to happen for @WHO to “unring” alarm bell.
@drmikeryan points out that international health regulations have a binary system: “There is either a global public health emergency or there is not.” Risk at all levels, national, regional, global, is clearly still high.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Q from Georgia about how to adapt #physicaldistancing measures in a country where close interactions are economic necessity.
@drmikeryan says he has been to Georgia and understands the context (where has this man not been?!)

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Georgia has kept number of cases below 650, says @DrMikeRyan. “I’m sure given the way the data looks that Georgia will pull through"

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Q about some countries reimposing lockdowns and others measures and what it means.
"Some are cautionary tales and some represent the kinds of things we expect", says @DrMikeRyan.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Difference between the two is whether there is surveillance in the community that shows problems early on and allows actions to be taken. Cautionary tale is countries only seeing opening-up is not working when hospitals start being overwhelmed, he says.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan “If the virus is still present and you bring people closer together you don't have to be an astrophysicist to work out that the disease will move more easily from person to person”, says @drmikeryan.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Says the worst outcome would be a "vicious cycle of public health disaster followed by economic disaster followed by public heath disaster followed by economic disaster.”

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Question from China: Why are so many #covid19 US deaths in long-term care facilities.Lack of care for this vulnerable group?
(Clear political agenda like most questions from Chinese journalists in these pressers).
Happening all over the world, says @drmikeryan. "It is a tragedy."

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan Critical thing is to keep virus from ever entering these facilities, says @mvankerkhove. Hard to keep it from spreading once it is present there. “We must protect people who are living in long-term care facilities."

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q: Why did lockdowns in Peru and Russia not work?
Peru has seen nearly 50% increase in cases in last week, says @DrMikeRyan and is up to around 68,000 cases. A lot of health workers and first responders infected there as well. Situation in Russia is developing, he says.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove One factor in how well stay at home orders work is how early they are implemented, says @DrMikeRyan.
“A difference of two weeks … can make a big difference in the epidemiology.” And they need to be adapted to local conditions and to what is known about transmissions there.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q about how long it will take for the world to beat the virus.
"We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time, therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it”, says @DrMikeRyan.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “Important to put this on the table: This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities. It may never go away”, says @DrMikeRyan. (Compares that situation to HIV which is still present but can be managed well with medication.)

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "We may have a shot at eliminating this virus”, says @DrMikeRyan. But points out that for that the vaccine will have to be highly effective, available to everyone, and it will have to be used (!!!) which is not the case with all vaccines that are available.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove .@DrMikeRyan mentions his recent experience in Samoa. There were 14 ventilators in western Samoa at the time, all of them were occupied by children sick with #measles. "Forgive me if I'm cynical, but we have some perfectly effective vaccines on the planet” and are not using them.

@WHO @DrTedros @MSF @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Many people feel despair, says @mvankerkhove. "I just want to say that the trajectory of this pandemic, this outbreak is in our hands”, she says. "We have seen countries bring this virus under control.” (And that seems the perfect note to end this presser on.)