Thread by @kakape

“Six months ago none of us could have imagined how our world and our lives would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus”, says @DrTedros at start of @WHO #covid19 presser. "The pandemic has brought out the best and the worst of humanity.”

@DrTedros @WHO “All over the world we have seen heartwarming acts of resilience, inventiveness, solidarity and kindness”, says @drtedros. "But we have also seen concerning signs of stigma, misinformation and the politicization of the #covid19 pandemic.“

@DrTedros @WHO "The single-most important intervention for breaking chains of transmission is not necessarily high-tech and can be carried out by a broad range of professionals. It’s tracing and quarantining contacts”, says @DrTedros.

@DrTedros @WHO "The critical question that all countries will face in the coming months is how to live with this virus. That is the new normal”, says @drtedros. Points out that some countries are experiencing a resurgence as thy start to re-open societies.

@DrTedros @WHO Most people are still susceptible to #SARSCoV2, says @drtedros. "The virus still has a lot of room to move”, he says. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is: this is not even close to being over."

@DrTedros @WHO (Had to drop off for a different interview, so missed part of the presser. Back to it now:)

@DrTedros @WHO Asked about investigating the origin of #SARSCoV2, @DrTedros says: “We will be sending a team next week to China to prepare for that”. Says knowing the source is important: "We can fight the virus better when we know everything about the virus including how it started."

@DrTedros @WHO (I can’t even tell you how much I want to be a fly on the wall accompanying the WHO on that particular mission to China.)

@DrTedros @WHO “The worst is yet to come”, says @drtedros. "I'm sorry to say that. But with this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst."

@DrTedros @WHO Q about contact tracing becoming difficult as cases rise.
The point of lockdowns was to get transmission down to level that allows contact tracing etc, says @DrMikeRyan. “Communities were making huge sacrifices for that to happen”, he says.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan "There are no guarantees with epidemics”, says @DrMikeRyan But "what we've seen is that countries that apply a comprehensive sustained strategy with their communities on board make progress”, he says and that can lead to "a situation where we can live with this virus”.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan “It's not one activity alone”, @mvankerkhove adds. “It is not contact tracing alone. It is not case finding alone. It is not physical distancing alone. … there tends to be a focus on a particular intervention. But it needs to be all of the above."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "If any country is saying contact tracing is difficult, it is a lame excuse”, says @drtedros pointing to the work of @DrMikeRyan and others in DRC doing contact tracing in a conflict zone.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q about Trump still using words like “kung flu virus” etc.
“We obviously want to have international discourse that's based on mutual respect”, says @DrMikeRyan. “We encourage all people at all levels and in all countries to use language that is appropriate, respectful"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “We can actually do better than we're doing right now”, says @DrMikeRyan. "We have a lot of vulnerable people to protect and shield. We have a lot of communities with poor health systems and poor living conditions that we need to help and support and we need to focus on that."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q about situation in Brazil:
Situation in Americas on the whole is difficult, says @DrMikeRyan, with half of the world’s cases and deaths there. Brazil continues to report more than 30,000 cases a day, he says. “There's no question that Brazil is still facing a big challenge."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "it would be silly to underestimate the size and the complexity of a great country like Brazil, but equally would also be important to recognize that Brazil has a huge and proud history in the management of infectious diseases” (classic @DrMikeRyan)

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove The presser ends with some important, powerful words from @drmikeryan around the politicisation of this pandemic that are really worth reflecting on and I’ll try to give those a bit more space here:

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “It is easy to criticize any individual country. And no country, no organization is without criticism, or without fault, or without difficulty in this response”, says @DrMikeRyan. "Today's message is not about what happened last week, last month, or the last three months”.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “We all need to recognize that in many countries, the government is the government of the day”, he says. “We need to find a way for each government to serve its citizenry, for each government to serve its people. And we need to encourage and support governments in doing that."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “When we talk about avoiding politicization of the virus, that cuts both ways.”, says @DrMikeRyan. “We may, in many situations as individuals and society, have to provide encouragement and support for a government that may not be of our choosing or liking."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove (That, of course, also succinctly sums up the situation of the WHO in the middle of this pandemic, where it has to fight the virus and it does not get to choose the governments it has to partner up with to do that.)

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "When you choose national unity against the common enemy, you sometimes don't get to choose who leads you in that fight”, says @drmikeryan. "You have to find a way to be able to take that forward. And that's the challenge for all countries now."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "I would just say from my personal perspective, that we cannot continue to allow the fight against this virus to become and be sustained as an ideological fight. It cannot be. We cannot beat this virus with ideologies, we simply cannot”, he says.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove "I think everybody now needs to take a step back at six months”, says @DrMikeRyan. “Every individual needs to look in the mirror and say, am I doing enough? And every politician needs to look in the mirror and say, am I doing enough to stop this virus?"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Sorry for the somewhat disjointed tweeting on the presser today. Had to do an interview in the middle of it, but it was one of the most interesting WHO press conferences in a while, so wanted to tweet out as much as I could. (And would love all pressers to be like this.)