Thread by @kakape

“I have been identified as the contact of someone who has tested positive for #covid19”, says @drtedros who is joining @WHO presser remotely today from his quarantine. “At this time, it's critically important that we all comply with health guidance."

@DrTedros @WHO “While many countries have brought #COVID19 under control cases in some countries in Europe and North America, continue to spike”, says @drtedros. “This is another critical moment for action, another critical moment for leaders to step up..."

@DrTedros @WHO "It's not too late”, says @DrTedros. "We all have a role to play in suppressing transmission. And we have seen across world, that it's possible."

@DrTedros @WHO “We knew that setting up a PCR test and expanding the testing capacity, would be very important”, says Yae-Jean Kim from Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, talking about South Korea’s response to #COVID19. She references the #MERS outbreak in 2015 several times.

@DrTedros @WHO "We encouraged wearing a mask from the earliest days of the pandemic and avoid mass gathering later on”, she says. “We did not lock down the country or close the border, but only performed the variable degrees of social distancing according to the epidemiological situation."

@DrTedros @WHO “The participation, cooperation, and compliance of the public, the community members of the nation was one of the most important aspect of #covid19 control in Korea”, says Yae-Jean Kim.

@DrTedros @WHO “Before COVID, we only had one ICU in the country, with only one intensivist for 7 million people”, says Marta Lado, describing the response in Sierra Leone. They took an Ebola treatment unit and turned that into an ICU unit with 30 beds.

@DrTedros @WHO Country has reported 2300 cases and 74 deaths. Reasons incl. young population, weather, cross reactivity with other coronaviruses, says Lado. But also response. “What we can definitely say in Sierra Leone is: Ebola taught us a big lesson about how to manage infectious diseases."

@DrTedros @WHO Q about protests in Europe against strict measures.
“We support the idea of protest and the idea of speaking out, and we understand people's frustrations, but governments in Europe in particular at this time are facing a very, very difficult situation”, says @DrMikeRyan.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan “The situation is serious”, says @DrMikeRyan. "We need to push this virus down, we need to take the heat out of this epidemic right now in Europe, and governments have limited options right now in how to do that."

Had to drop off the presser to do a radio interview, but will post more later.