Kathmandu, January 30
The United Nations’ health agency, World Health Organisation, has urged Nepal among the countries in Southeast Asian region on Thursday to remain vigilant and strengthen the readiness to rapidly detect any case of importation of the new coronavirus and prevent its spread.
“It is time to focus all efforts on readiness guided by whatever is known about the new coronavirus,” the agency’s regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh says in a statement.
As in the case of any new virus, much remains to be understood, Singh says, adding that the WHO has prepared interim guidance on case detection, testing, clinical management of cases, infection prevention and control during health care, home care for people suspected to have the virus, and guidance on reducing transmission.
The WHO is working with countries in the region to roll out these guidelines, prioritising reviewing and building capacities for laboratory diagnostic, including referral of specimens and diagnosis; training in case management, specimen collection and transportation, and infection prevention and control; logistics support and communicating risks and promoting desired behavior in the community, according to the statement.
So far, two countries in the WHO South-East Asia region – Thailand and Nepal – have reported confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.
