WHO Urges Whole-Government COVID-19 Approach as Cases Climb Globally

At yesterday’s media telebriefing, Tedros said trends in South Korea are encouraging, with signs that virus activity may be decreasing and most new cases linked to known clusters.

China yesterday reported 143 new cases, edging its overall total to 80,409, according to the National Health Commission. All but 5 were from Hubei province. The number of people still in serious condition declined by 464 to 5,952. And 31 deaths were reported, all from Hubei province, bumping the fatality total above the 3,000 mark to 3,012.

Tedros said yesterday that of 31 China provinces that were at their highest alert level, 20 have downgraded the risk level, and yesterday alone, 11 moved their level to the lowest level. “There’s hope in that,” he added.

In Japan, the health ministry yesterday reported 26 more cases and 5 more asymptomatic carriers, raising its total to 313. It lists its overall total as 348, which includes 35 asymptomatic carriers. The latest cases are from 12 different prefectures.

Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia reported 5 new cases in the wake of its biggest 1-day rise, according to a Straits Times report. All 5 of the new cases are linked to an earlier case. The country’s outbreak total is now 55. And Singapore’s health ministry also reported 5 new cases, 1 imported and 4 linked to a private dinner party, raising the country’s total to 117.

Italian Doctors Warn of High ICU Burden
Italy’s health ministry yesterday reported 769 new cases and 41 more deaths, lifting its respective totals to 3,858 cases, 148 of them fatal. Though cases have been reported throughout the country, 3,356 are from three hard-hit northern regions: Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto.

In a letter to the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, a group of Italian doctors from Milan sent a letter to the group, warning others that a high percentage of positive cases are being admitted to intensive care units (ICUs), about 10% of patients. “We wish to convey a strong message. Get ready!” they wrote.

They listed several recommendations, including having a personal protective equipment stocking and restocking protocol in place, increasing ICU capacity, and preparing spaces for cohorting ICU patients, if needed.

In other European developments, two countries reported their first deaths from the virus yesterday: Switzerland and the United Kingdom.Also, two more European countries reported their first cases: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia.

According to media reports, Bosnia’s cases are a man from Italy and his child, while Slovenia has two cases, one announced yesterday in a person who had been in Italy and Morocco and a contact whose illness was announced yesterday.