Sharjah24 – Reuters: The World Health Organisation's top emergency expert said on Monday (November 30) that the world risked future pandemics if it suffered "amnesia" and did not learn from the current coronavirus crisis.
Mike Ryan also took a swipe at developed nations in particular, saying that northern countries had been running healthcare systems "like low-cost airlines" and that the world was paying the price for that now.
"If we do this again like we did after SARS, like we did after H5N1, like we did after H1N1 pandemic, if we continue to ignore the realities of what emerging and dangerous pathogens can do to our civilization, then we are likely to experience the same or worse again within our lifetimes," he said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged countries not to politicize the hunt for the origins of the new coronavirus, saying that would only create barriers to learning the truth.
"There is nothing to hide. We want to know the origin, and that's it", he said.
Chinese state media have said the virus existed abroad before it was discovered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, citing the presence of coronavirus on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers saying it had been circulating in Europe last year.
Tedros also urged Brazil to be "very, very serious" about its rising coronavirus infection numbers, a trend that he described as "very, very worrisome."
Ryan urged countries to consider carefully any plans for the coming ski season to manage the risks associated with people converging on small areas where the new coronavirus could be spread.
But the global health agency declined to offer a specific recommendation to governments wrestling with the question of whether to allow snow sports this winter.
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