Thread by @kakape

“The ripple effects of this pandemic are having a major impact politically, economically and in how people live their day-to-day lives”, says @DrTedros at start of @WHO presser on #covid19. "Everyone is asking: So how do we go back to normal?"

@DrTedros @WHO “Today, I want to talk about not how we’re going to go back but how we’re going to go forward”, says @drtedros. “To move forward, the best bet is to do it together."

@DrTedros @WHO "IMF estimates the pandemic costs the global economy $375 billion a month, and predicts a cumulative loss to the global economy over 2 years of over $12 trillion”, says @drtedros. "The world has already spent trillions dealing with the short-term consequences of the pandemic."

@DrTedros @WHO Funding the ACT accelerator, a global collaboration on #covid19 tests, drugs and vaccines, is not just an investment in research and development, says @drtedros. “In reality, it's the best economic stimulus the world can invest."

@DrTedros @WHO "Before spending another $10 trillion on the consequences of the next #COVID19 wave, we estimate that the world will need to spend at least $100 billion on new tools, especially any new vaccines that are developed", says @drtedros. ACT accelerator needs $31.3 billion, he says.

@DrTedros @WHO "Excess demand and competition for supply is already creating vaccine nationalism and risk of price gouging”, says @drtedros. "This is the kind of market failure that only global solidarity, public sector investment and engagement can solve."

@DrTedros @WHO "We live in a globalised economy and countries are dependent on each other for goods and services, transportation and supply”, says @drtedros. “If we don't get rid of the virus everywhere, we can't rebuild economies anywhere."

@DrTedros @WHO Q (from @HelenBranswell): Any confirmed reports of re-infection?
There have been reports from some countries but still no confirmation, says @mvankerkhove. Says false positives and false negatives need to be ruled out. In short: “We don't know yet."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove Q about Russian vaccine candidate.
“We're currently in conversation with Russia to get additional information, understand the status of that product, the trials that have been undertaken and then what the next steps might be”, says Bruce Aylward.

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove I asked about global #covid19 situation (daily numbers appear to be plateauing).
Important to remember that "a very small proportion of the world's population have actually been exposed to this virus”, says @DrMikeRyan. “So this virus has a long way to burn if we allow it."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan "Once you get community transmission under control and you get back to clusters or sporadic cases, you have to try and keep it there”, says @DrMikeRyan. “If you take pressure off this virus, it will slip back towards community transmission."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Yes, there is a plateau, says @DrMikeRyan, but we need to be careful: “Calm waters do not mean the storm is over. We may just be in the eye of the storm.” Countries need to be vigilant, retain progress. "You will lose that progress if, if you relent, if you become complacent."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q: Why are cases in Africa concentrated in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Nigeria?
These countries are populous and highly linked to Europe, says @DrMikeRyan and some have dense urban or peri-urban populations that are poor an highly vulnerable.

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan "Paradoxically, these five countries actually have relatively strong public health systems”, adds @DrMikeRyan: good surveillance systems, good national labs and may actually be detecting more cases than other countries. "So the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan “While Africa has done an incredible job of building an increasing and expanding testing capacity to be able to detect #COVID19 cases, it isn't evenly distributed throughout the entire continent”, says @DrMikeRyan. "So there may be unrecognized cases."

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan Q about food safety (chicken wings from Brazil tested positive for in China).
No example of #covid19 transmitted as a food-borne virus, says @mvankerkhove. China is actually testing packaging, she says, tested a few hundred thousand samples and found less than 10 positive.

@DrTedros @WHO @HelenBranswell @mvankerkhove @DrMikeRyan “People are already scared enough and fearful enough in the COVID pandemic”, adds @DrMikeRyan. “It's important that we don't conflate observations like this into a major concern around food. Our food from a COVID perspective is safe."