WHO declares coronavirus outbreak ‘global emergency’: Here is what it means

WHO’s Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that so far 98 confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus have been detected in 18 countries outside China.

Pranav Hegde

January 31, 2020 / 12:45 PM IST

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak of novel coronavirus as a global emergency. The disease, originated first in China, has slowly spread across the globe, killing over 200 people.

When the WHO declares a global health emergency, it is allowed to make recommendations on controlling the further spread of a virus or disease. WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that so far 98 confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus have been detected in 18 countries outside China.

During the press conference, the director-general also noted that that, out of the 7,834 confirmed cases, 7,736 cases have been detected in China. The spread of this virus to other parts of the world has led to declaring Coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

This declaration gives WHO the right to boost measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus. Upon declaring PHEIC, WHO can put advisories and recommendations in place related to travel like screening at the airports, land borders, etc.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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