WHO chief: 'Test every suspected case' of COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief has urged all countries to test every suspected coronavirus case, warning that the pandemic is the “defining global health crisis of our time.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva on Monday that "you cannot fight a fire blindfolded," calling for countries to test every suspected case.

"In the past week, we have seen a rapid escalation of cases of COVID-19," he said, warning that there has not been “an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response.”

“We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test. Test every suspected case, if they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in contact with two days before they developed symptoms and test those people, too,” Tedros said.

He further described the pandemic as "the defining global health crisis of our time," adding that "crises like this tend to bring out the best and worst in humanity."

Tedros’ remarks came as more cases and deaths have been reported in the world than in China, where the new coronavirus first emerged.

The coronavirus, a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province in December last year and is currently affecting 162 countries and territories across the globe. It has so far infected over 179,000 people and killed more than 7,000 others.

The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

MG