Statement for the joint press conference on COVID-19

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe

Rome, Italy, 26 February 2020

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to say a few words to you today.

Allow me to provide you with an update on the situation. As of today, we have over 80,000 cases of COVID-19 in 34 countries. Four new Member States – Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman – have reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. 97% of the cases are reported from China and our thoughts are with all the families and communities affected by the disease there, and the health workers and authorities working tirelessly to treat and protect their populations.

Here, in Europe, communities have also been impacted, in no country more than Italy, where, as you are fully aware, we have seen a rapid increase in cases in just a few days, some of them with no clear epidemiological links, such as a history of travel to China or contact with a confirmed case.

This presents a significant challenge for the Italian authorities. I have been personally assured that your fellow citizens are all working hand in hand and making every effort to contain and prevent transmission of the disease.

Italian authorities are implementing measures to prevent onward transmission that align with the containment strategy currently being implemented globally. To do so, Italian leadership has had to make difficult decisions, placing health above economic prosperity. These have been tough but correct decisions.

Your burden is Europe’s burden and that is why I am here today.

Thanks to the Ministry of Health of Italy for welcoming our joint WHO-ECDC expert team to Rome. We are doing our best to support the Italian authorities and please be assured that we are working around the clock. The meeting that kicked off yesterday defined our collaboration in areas such as clinical management, infection prevention and control, surveillance and risk communication. We will join experts in the Ministry of Health and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità to analyze information and data, we will work with the affected regions, and we will advise and operate in a common effort to stop COVID-19, acting hand in hand, joined by a common cause.
At WHO we are making every effort possible to coordinate COVID-19 global preparedness and response in each and every country. As Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, I have been in close communication since the weekend with the European Commission and Italian authorities at national and regional level, and with the Minister of Health.

While battling this disease and its spread, we must also learn from the response here in Italy. Your experience, difficult as it is, is also invaluable to our understanding of how to tackle the disease. The burden of COVID-19 is a shared one that requires a collective response from those near and far from its immediate impact today.

Everyone needs to do their part.

I would like to leave you with a few short messages:

To the Italian people: Protect yourselves and others from getting sick by adhering to the guidance from your public health authorities and stay healthy while travelling. This includes:

observing hand and respiratory hygiene and maintaining a safe distance from any sick persons;
searching for information through official channels;
avoiding stigmatization and discrimination of other people based on their origin.

To health professionals: You are the heroes of this response. As you face greater risks, you need the equipment and training to protect yourselves so that you can continue saving others.

To members of the media: Yours is a critical role. This is the time for accurate reporting from official sources. Your role in an outbreak is not simply to chase the story; it is to perform a public service. Your actions are public health actions in every respect. You play a significant part in protecting the health and well-being of your fellow citizens.

To governments in Europe: Be ready to identify and test any cases of COVID-19, treat patients with dignity and compassion, prevent onward transmission, and communicate with the public.

To the Italian government: I ask Italy to continue its leadership and determination to contain the virus, working in full synergy, both nationally and internationally, to learn, respond and share.

You are doing a good job right now, but you have to keep up and sustain these efforts so that no one is left behind because ultimately health is a political choice.

WHO/Europe is stepping up efforts for the people of Europe with its leadership and partners. This is the time for global solidarity and we can overcome the threat only if we act together.