The World Health Organization met Thursday and declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC. This does not mean that we’re all going to die, or that the disease is out of control. Rather, it means that the virus is crossing international borders in a way that requires countries to work together to prevent the situation from getting any worse.
… The WHO’s director general (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus) said that the PHEIC declaration “is to protect, especially, countries with weaker health systems.”
… Interestingly, WHO said the best practice is not to enact any travel bans, border closures, or quarantines of healthy travelers. (Some countries have begun, or are discussing, such measures.) There’s no evidence that those bans help to contain disease, and in fact they tend to hurt more than they help.
… Another key recommendation is to fight misinformation, which is becoming rampant. Politifact has an article collecting some of the hoaxes and conspiracy theories that have been floating around. • LINK
… The US Centers for Disease Control offers tips, which are very much like the tips we hear about the flu. • LINK
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