The WHO/Europe offices in Copenhagen will be closed for at least one further day, up to and including Thursday 19 August 2010. As the health and safety of staff and visitors are of primary concern to WHO, the offices will reopen once an external assessment has established that there is no risk to health. Information on when the office will reopen will be posted as soon as it is available.

Work is under way to ensure that the offices are fully functional as quickly as possible. An emergency group is meeting regularly to oversee repair operations and address key issues, including those relating to the International Health Regulations (IHR). Staff are requested to check the Intranet and this web site regularly for further updates.

Communication services gradually reestablished

In Copenhagen, telephone and e-mail services have been affected by the flooding, and e-mail services have also been affected for a very limited number of staff in some  WHO country offices. In addition, the WHO Centre in Barcelona was affected since its services are provided via Copenhagen. E-mails sent to these offices between the evening of Saturday 14 August until the morning of Tuesday 17 August have not been received and are bouncing back to the senders. E-mail and telephone services are now fully functional in all WHO/Europe country offices, and the Barcelona Office, and these services are slowly being reestablished in Copenhagen. You are therefore kindly requested to resend any essential e-mails sent during the above mentioned period, once the full e-mail service has resumed later this week.

A mobile switchboard is in operation making use of the general WHO/Europe telephone number. The general fax number is also operating. All other telephone services in Copenhagen are currently unavailable.