Staff are gradually returning to the WHO/Europe premises from today, as buildings have been cleaned and are pronounced safe, following flooding on 2 July.

Due to a comprehensive back-up system and business continuity plan, the services provided by WHO/Europe including the International Health Regulations (IHR) Contact Point for Europe, remained fully operational and continued to be accessible throughout the closure of the office.

The e-mail system was also immediately recovered, enabling staff to work remotely as the clean-up operation of the WHO/Europe office site continued.

“During these difficult circumstances, I would like to commend the spirit and resilience of WHO staff, who ensured that the office has continued to be fully operational over the past 10 days. My thanks extend to the Danish Government and WHO Headquarters for their support, due to which we are back on site in record time”, said Ms Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe.

It is anticipated that all staff will return to the office by the end of this week.