Thread by @kakape

“WHO is continuing to respond to the new #Ebola outbreak in the city of Mbandaka”, says @DrTedros at start of regular #covid19 presser at @WHO. 8 cases have been detected, 4 of them have died. Today, close to 50 responders and 3600 doses of #Ebola vaccine arrived in Mbandaka.

@DrTedros @WHO Latest #Ebola case attended the burial of the first case, but was detected in Bikoro, a town 150 km from Mbandaka, says @drtedros. "This means that two health zones are now affected.” Virus is being sequenced to find out whether there is a link to previous outbreak.

@DrTedros @WHO "More than 100,000 cases of #Covid19 have been reported to WHO for each of the past 5 days”, says @drtedros. "We are especially worried about Central and South America, where many countries are witnessing accelerating epidemic.”

@DrTedros @WHO Rapid review of mortality data from hydroxychloroquine arm of Solidarity trial found no reason to modify the trial, says @drtedros. So enrolment of patients into that arm should restart soon. (There will be lots of debate about impact of that already notorious Lancet paper)

@DrTedros @WHO "As of now there is no evidence that any drug actually reduces the mortality in patients who have #covid19”, says @doctorsoumya. Says it’s "urgent priority to do the needed studies to do the randomized clinical trials to get that evidence as quickly as possible."

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya Q from Brazil about Russia approving use of a version of favipiravir for #covid19.
@WHO is “keen to see the results of those trials”, says @doctorsoumya.

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya Q about danger of #SARSCoV2 mutating.
@mvankerkhove: None of the changes so far "indicate that the virus itself is changing in terms of its ability to transmit or to cause more severe disease”.
“It's dangerous enough as it is”, @DrMikeRyan adds. “That's why we‘re fighting it."

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q from Mexico about danger of infection outdoors:
"Being out in the open is a very good thing", says @DrMikeRyan. Says it’s good for general health and also to avoid infection as long as conditions are not crowded.

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q about AP report detailing delay in China sharing #SARSCoV2 genome.
@DrMikeRyan not engaging, says @WHO has worked "to support and share information with our member states equally and engage in frank and forthright conversations with governments at all levels”

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Two follow-up questions on AP report from other journalists don’t get any more detailed response either.

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q Why is the situation in Latin America so bad inspite of many measures?
Important to distinguish, says @DrMikeRyan. For instance, small island states of the Caribbean have done a superb job, he says. But: “very concerned about Haiti .. because of it’s unique fragility”

@DrTedros @WHO @doctorsoumya @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan “In South America, we see increasing continued intense community transmission in places like Peru and Brazil”, says @DrMikeRyan. “Once that intense community transmission has been established, it's very difficult to root the virus out”, he says. Takes all of society approach.