Thread by @kakape

“Last week saw the first decline in newly-reported #covid19 cases globally since September, due to a decrease in cases in Europe”, says @DrTedros at @WHO presser. Says it’s "thanks to the effectiveness of difficult but necessary measures put in place in recent weeks”.

@DrTedros @WHO #covid19 cases are still increasing inmost other regions, says @drtedros and warns that gains can easily be lost, especially with the holiday season coming up. "This is no time for complacency."

@DrTedros @WHO "We all need to consider whose life we might be gambling with in the decisions we make”, says @DrTedros. “We all want to be together with the people we love during festive periods. But being with family and friends is not worth putting them or yourself at risk."

@DrTedros @WHO Some concrete suggestions fron @DrTedros for celebrating this year:
"Celebrate with your household, avoid gatherings with many different households and families coming together.”
"Avoid crowded shopping centres, shop at less crowded times, and use online shopping if you can."

@DrTedros @WHO "If you do meet people from a different household, meet outdoors if you can, maintain physical distance and wear a mask.”
Same precautions if you have to travel. And, of course: "If you feel unwell, don't travel."

@DrTedros @WHO Also acknowledges #WorldAIDSDay tomorrow:

"New HIV infections have declined by 23% since 2010 and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 39%”, says @DrTedros.
But much still to be done:
12 million people living with HIV are not on treatment. And pandemic putting progress at risk.

@DrTedros @WHO “In a WHO survey of 127 countries earlier this year, more than a quarter reported partial disruption to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV”, says @drtedros.
Has since declined. Now:
-9 countries reporting disruptions
-12 critically low stock of antiretroviral medicines

@DrTedros @WHO Q about WHO origins mission and how experts were selected.
A call was put out earlier in the year, says @DrMikeRyan. “The process was to select a diverse group of individuals representing a geographically diverse group who represent the necessary expertise."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan "Some have been politicizing this,” says @drtedros. "WHO is position is very, very clear: We need to know the origin of this virus. Because it can help us to prevent future outbreaks. And we're doing everything to make sure that we know the origin."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan "The burden on the health care facilities on health care workers right now in many countries across the world is really astounding”, says @mvankerkhove. “We just need to all play our part to try to prevent us from needing that that care in the first place."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q: To ski or not to ski?
“It needs to be a risk-based approach”, says @mvankerkhove. As with other activities, questions are "in terms of what can be done, how it can be done, if it can be postponed and if it can't be postponed how it can be done safely. Skiing is no different.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove People are unlikely to be infected “barreling down the slopes”, @DrMikeRyan adds. “The real issues are going to come at airports, on tour buses taking people to and from ski resorts, ski lifts … not to mention the après ski that so many people seem to enjoy.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Q about rising numbers in Brazil:
“The disease numbers are going down in a number of states but rising in others”, says @DrMikeRyan. Important to look closely: "Where are cases jumping back up? What's driving this rise in cases? What can be done at that sub-national level”"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Brazil #covid19 case numbers peaked in July at more than 300,000 cases per week, says @drtedros. Then went down to 114,000 cases in the week of November 2. Now back up to 218,000 in a week.
“So I think Brazil has to be very very serious”, says @drtedros. “It's very worrisome.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “We've known that a pandemic is coming”, says @DrMikeRyan. “It's not like nature wasn't telling us to be careful, to watch out, to get ready. It's not like the scientists around the world weren't telling us to watch out, get ready."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “Converting that sense of threat into concerted action on every level, that's been the difficulty”, says @DrMikeRyan. “The crisis that hasn't happened in people's minds, is the one that it's very hard to get the investment in to avoid or to mitigate the impact of such a crisis."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove Health systems in the south and north struggle for different reasons, says @DrMikeRyan:
“In the south, health systems are under strain because there's chronic underinvestment, and they struggle to maintain basic essential health services.”

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove In north “we've designed our health systems to be delivered at 95, 98, 100% efficiency", says @DrMikeRyan.
“It's almost like a low-cost airline model for health service delivery. Well, we're paying a price for that now, not having that extra surge capacity built into the system."

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove On COVAX:
“Although the $2 billion that was the target for 2020 has been reached, there is still another $5 billion, that is required in order to meet the aspiration of procuring 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021”, says @Kate_L_OBrien.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @Kate_L_OBrien Even if vaccines are effective and available, huge challenges ahead, says @Kate_L_OBrien:
"the delivery of these vaccines, the competence in communities, the acceptance of vaccines and assuring that people are in fact immunized with the right number of doses"

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @Kate_L_OBrien The year ahead is "not only about assuring that there is supply, it's also about a massive unprecedented scale of readiness and implementation of delivery and all that that will take in every community in every country around the world”, says @Kate_L_OBrien.

@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove @Kate_L_OBrien People with influence should model good behaviour, says @drmikeryan.
“No matter what it says on the posters and no matter what it says in the guidance: If that behavior is not being modeled by leaders and influencers, populations get confused
and the issue becomes
politicized."