Oliver Haslam on February 12, 2020, 10:56 pm

WHO Says Coronavirus Is ‘Public Enemy Number One’ As Number Of Cases Increase

While there as been a ton of talk bout the impact of coronavirus on the production of iPhones and other technology due to the closure of factories, it’s important to remember that the real threat here is the virus itself. And that’s something the director-general of the World Health Organization has made clear.

While coronavirus was initially thought to be less deadly than SARS, it has already surpassed the death toll that SARS was able to wreak in 2002 and 2003. And with that we already know of more than 40,000 cases of coronavirus around the globe.

According to a Guardian report, the World Health Organization is already trying to ensure everyone fully understands what we are facing here.

“Viruses can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after an international meeting of 400 scientists and other experts convened in Geneva to look for solutions to the crisis.

With an estimated 18 months until the first vaccine is available, “we have to do everything today using available weapons,” he said. The rising number of diagnoses in patients who had never visited China could be the “tip of the iceberg”, he added […]

The world must “wake up and consider this enemy virus as public enemy number one,” said Tedros.

Earlier Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist, one of the experts called to Geneva for the meeting, told the Guardian that the coronavirus epidemic could spread to about two-thirds of the world’s population if it could not be controlled.

That does kind of put everything into perspective somewhat. But with Foxconn recently struggling to get its plants open amid staff shortages and simply being unable to open factories, the impact of coronavirus could be felt for some time to come. Even by those who have never come into contact with anyone carrying the virus itself.