The World Health Organization has admitted that it has erred in its assessment of the risk of the deadly virus in China.
The Geneva-based UN agency said in a situational report late Sunday that the risk was “very high in China, high at the regional level and high at the global level.”
In a footnote, WHO explained that in its previous reports on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the organization 'incorrectly' indicated that the global risk was 'moderate'.
An adjustment to the global risk assessment does not mean that an international health emergency has been declared.
On Thursday, WHO did not declare the novel coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern – a rare designation used only for the most serious outbreaks of disease that could lead to more concerted global action.
The virus, which was first detected in the city of Wuhan in China on December 31, has since infected more than 2,700 people worldwide.
Eighty-one people died – all of them in China.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyes, who will visit China this week to discuss ways to contain the virus, was heavily questioned by reporters Thursday over his decision not to declare an emergency.
Some journalists asked if the decision was politicized.
However, at a briefing at WHO headquarters, Tedros said the hazard level could be changed at any time and that the global risk from the outbreak was 'high'.
'This is an emergency in China, has not yet become a global health emergency. But it can become another one, 'he said.
The agency added that the error in the three situation reports was 'a wording error'.
When asked about the fix, Antoine Flao, one of the directors of the Swiss School of Public Health, said: 'This is a mistake. This is definitely a significant bug … but I really think it is a bug that has now been fixed. '
WHO's cautious approach, which has been challenged by some critics, can be seen in the context of past criticism of the organization for its too hasty use of the term, first used for the deadly 2009 swine flu pandemic.
During the swine flu pandemic, the UN health agency was criticized for causing panic buying of vaccines. In the same year, it was announced that the outbreak of the epidemic had reached pandemic proportions, and then it turned out that the virus was no longer as dangerous as it seemed at first glance.
But in 2014, WHO was heavily criticized for downplaying the severity of the Ebola epidemic that ravaged three West African countries, claiming more than 11,300 lives by the time it ended in 2016.
Sources: Agence France-Presse
