Thread by @kakape

"It took 12 weeks for the world to reach 400,000 cases of #covid19. Over the weekend there were more than 400,000 cases around the world”, says @DrTedros at @WHO presser. “The outbreak is accelerating and we’ve clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic.”

@DrTedros @WHO WHO experts are traveling to China this weekend "to prepare scientific plans with their Chinese counterparts for identifying the zoonotic source of #covid19”, says @DrTedros.

@DrTedros @WHO Experts will develop scope and terms of reference of WHO-led international mission. "The mission objective is to advance the understanding of animal hosts for #covid19 and ascertain how the disease jumped between animals to humans”, says @drtedros.

@DrTedros @WHO "WHO is deeply concerned about the impact of #covid19 on the global response to HIV”, says @drtedros highlighting #AIDS2020 meeting happening this week. "A new WHO survey showed access to HIV medicines has been significantly curtailed as result of the pandemic."

@DrTedros @WHO One problem: 73 countries are at risk of stock-outs of antiretrovirals to treat HIV infection. "To mitigate the impact of the #covid19 pandemic on HIV treatment access, WHO recommends all countries prescribe ARVs for longer periods of time”, says @DrTedros.

@DrTedros @WHO Q about letter to @WHO about aerosol transmission of #covid19.
"We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field, as in all other fields, .. and therefore, we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications”, says @allegranzib.

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib Q about Bolsonaro who just announced he has tested positive for #covid19.
"we wish him a speedy and full recovery from from this disease”, says @DrMikeRyan. “I think the message to us all is: we are all vulnerable to this virus."

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan It’s not only Brazil. "The whole of Latin America doesn't look good. Cases are on the rise. Deaths are on the rise”, says @drtedros. “It's very important to understand the seriousness of this virus.”

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan Q about why globally case count is rising but deaths are not.
Globally around 6000 deaths per day in April, says @drmikeryan. It “dropped in mid-May to around 5000 deaths per day and it's going up and down slightly around that number”.

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan Mentions several reasons for stable number of deaths:
1. time lag (“we've only really experienced this rapid increase in cases over the last five to six weeks… I don't think it should be a surprise if deaths start to rise again. It will be very unfortunate, but it may happen.".)

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan 2. more testing, so deaths a smaller proportion of cases that are found.
3. better care (“some of this at least is down to some excellent frontline doctors and nurses, and their ability to detect and treat patients, early”)
4. better shielding of older populations

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan I asked about the plans for the China mission on the zoonotic origin of #covid19.
Wuhan "is the best starting point for an investigation of the animal origin, but after that I think we have to keep an open mind. Science must stay open to all possibilities”, says @DrMikeRyan.

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan Understanding "the pathway by which this virus entered the human population is extremely important, but it's not always a straightforward process of being able to get that answer”, says @DrMikeRyan. “There are many dead ends when you study these things."

@DrTedros @WHO @allegranzib @DrMikeRyan “If the walls of your castle are breached you need to know where the breach is because you can fix and repair that breach, you can make sure that that's strengthened for the future”. @DrMikeRyan going all medieval to explain why we need to know where species barrier was breached.