Statement – COVID-19 epidemic can be pushed back

Statement on COVID-19 in the WHO Western Pacific Region by Dr Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific

COVID-19 Briefing and Discussion organized by the WHO Regional Office for Europe for the Diplomatic Corps to Denmark

19 March 2020, Manila, the Philippines

Dear Excellencies, Dear fellow Regional Directors, Dear Colleagues,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to join the call.

As you’re all aware, the first cases of this virus were reported from my Region on the final day of last year. Today, there are countries at all stages of the epidemic in the Western Pacific. This reflects the extreme diversity among our Member States.

Whatever the stage, all countries have been tremendously engaged and committed to preparing for and responding to COVID-19, and if you allow me, I would like to share a few reflections from this part of the world:

Most importantly, this is an epidemic that can be pushed back. For the first time today China has reported no new cases of local transmissions, although they did detect and report some imported cases.  This is down from 3,800 new cases in a single day at the peak of the epidemic last month. Likewise, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Singapore have also managed to slow their epidemics and have reported much lower daily case counts in recent weeks.

As of today, including those countries we have 16 countries and areas that have reported cases of COVID-19 in my Region. Most of these are experiencing localized clusters of cases, though sometimes these clusters can be large. They are doing extensive contact tracing, active surveillance, isolating the cases and collating, and together with the contact tracing and multi-layered surveillance we are not seeing strong evidence of widespread community transmission in the Western Pacific Region.

We know that with aggressive action, it is possible to push this virus back. But we also recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to doing this. Rather, the situation in each country—sometimes even within countries— is different. Responses need to be tailored carefully to the local context, and we must be agile in our actions.

But there is one factor that’s common to all settings: the need to mobilize all of society as part of the response—starting from the highest level with strong political leadership from the capital, and reaching all the way to far-flung communities who also need to feel ownership of the response.
Secondly, as many health issues do, COVID-19 challenges us to focus on the vulnerable. This, of course, includes those who are particularly susceptible—the elderly and people who have underlying conditions.

But the vulnerable also include our healthcare workers, who are not only the most exposed to the virus, but the most essential part of the response.

Thirdly, while we must respond to the health threat immediately facing us, we must also be thinking a step ahead, and readying ourselves for a range of scenarios. This applies in particular to the phases in which we place emphasis in contact tracing and containment, which can provide us with an invaluable opportunity to prepare systems for large-scale community transmission if we use that time well.

As I said, every context is different, and I don’t want to imply that what worked in some countries in Asia will also work across Europe. Which brings me to my final point: more than ever, this is a time for international solidarity and cooperation, as my fellow Regional Director of Europe said. We know Europe’s potential to stand together, and I want to reassure you of the commitment among countries in our Region to support Europe in any way possible, just as we appreciate the strong support we are receiving from Europe. In this situation, every European is Asian, and every Asian is European.

This also applies, of course, to our internal collaboration within WHO. I am in very close contact with my fellow Regional Directors Dr Kluge and Dr Moeti —we are exchanging experiences and staff, and we consider ourselves as one team in responding to COVID-19, together with our colleagues at WHO Headquarters.

We are all facing a great test, but I am confident that together, we will overcome and emerge stronger.