Seite - 515 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

515“Flattening the Curve” Through COVID-19 Contagion Containment Barely a month after China reported a novel coronavirus out-break in the city of Wuhan at the end of 2019,1 on January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the COVID- 19 outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC), raising the global risk of the outbreak to “very high,” its highest alert level.2 By declaring the outbreak a PHEIC as per International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005),3 WHO thus empha- sized the urgent need to coordinate international efforts to better investigate and understand COVID-19, to “minimize the threat in affected countries” and to reduce the risk of further international spread. WHO declared a “very high” risk assessment for China, and a “high” level globally. All countries were advised to “be ready to contain any introduction of the virus and its spread through active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, con- tact tracing, and prevention.” Early precautionary measures in much of the rest of China and East Asia, and in places such as Kerala state in Southwestern India, were largely successful in containing the spread of the epidemic, at least thus far. But most national authorities outside of East Asia did not take adequate early precautionary measures to contain the spread of the outbreak, typically by promoting safe “physical distancing,” use of masks in public areas, and other measures to reduce the likeli- hood of infection. 1. On 31 Dec 2019, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan in Hubei Province. The next day, the WHO set up an Incident Management Support Team, putting the organization on an emer- gency footing to deal with the outbreak. On 12 January, China publicly shared the genetic sequence of COVID-19. 2. When a PHEIC is declared, the WHO Director-General issues temporary rec- ommendations under the 2005 IHR, including obligations for countries to provide sufficient public health rationale and justification to WHO about any additional measures beyond what WHO recommends. This is critical to ensure the international response is evidence-based, measured, and bal- anced, so that unnecessary interference with travel and trade is avoided. The WHO also recommended that the global community should provide support to low- and middle-income countries to respond to the threat, and to facilitate their access to diagnostics, potential vaccines, and therapeutics. “2019-nCoV Outbreak is an Emergency of International Concern” (31 January 2020), online: World  Health  Organization <http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health- emergencies/international-health-regulations/news/news/2020/2/2019-ncov- outbreak-is-an-emergency-of-international-concern>. 3. “International Health Regulations” (2005), online (pdf): World  Health  Organization <https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43883/9789241580410_eng. pdf?sequence=1>.