World Health Organization (WHO)Verified account

"We expect more announcements in the coming days. We welcome support from all donors big & small – every dollar counts"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

"We are also mobilizing the full power of the @UN system. Yesterday I briefed the Secretary General @antonioguterres & other UN leaders & today we had a call with over 200 UN country representatives. This follows yesterday’s call with WHO country representatives"-@DrTedros

"It’s hard to believe that just 2 months ago, the #2019nCoV virus was unknown to us. We have already learned so much about it. We know its DNA; it can be transmitted from person to person; those most at risk are older people & those with underlying health conditions"-@DrTedros

"Having the genetic sequence of the #2019nCoV has enabled the rapid development of tests, and as I mentioned yesterday, we have shipped 250,000 tests to more than 70 laboratories around the world, and we’re training lab workers to use them"-@DrTedros

"But there is still a lot we don’t know. We don’t know the source of the #2019nCoV outbreak, we don’t know what its natural reservoir is and we don’t properly understand its transmissibility or severity. To defeat this outbreak, we need answers to all those questions"-@DrTedros

"And there are tools we don’t have. We have no vaccine to prevent infections, and no therapeutics to treat them. To put it bluntly: we’re shadow-boxing. We need to bring the #2019nCoV out into the light so we can attack it properly"-@DrTedros

"That’s why on February 11-12 we are convening a global research & innovation forum to identify research priorities & coordinate the international research effort. This will be a meeting of scientists from all over the world, including , both in person & virtually"-@DrTedros

"The aim is to fast-track the development of effective diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines. One of the key challenges is coordinating research funders to support key priorities"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

"A lot of donors want to help, but we need to direct them to support agreed priorities, rather than going off in different directions. I have said we need to be led be facts not fear & science not rumours. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We are letting science lead"-@DrTedros

"But this is something WHO has been working on for years. Following the West African #Ebola outbreak, we developed the WHO R&D Blueprint – a global strategy for developing drugs and vaccines before epidemics, and accelerating R&D activities during epidemics"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

"It speeds up the availability of the medicines and technologies that save lives. We’ve seen that with the rapid development of an #Ebola vaccine"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV

"But vaccines & therapeutics are not silver bullets & they will take time to develop. In the meantime, there are simple things everyone can do: -wash your hands regularly and -cover your nose and your mouth with your elbow when you cough or sneeze"-@DrTedros #2019nCoV