Virus Outbreak: WHO should declare pandemic: expertsIF THAT’S NOT A PANDEMIC: COVID-19 might be a ‘once-in-a-century’ pathogen, so the nation should prepare assuming that it would turn out so, a dean at NTU saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe WHO should declare the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, health experts at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health said yesterday, adding that the government should bolster disease prevention measures at long-term care centers. “The NTU College of Public Health wants to represent the professional point of view and urge the WHO to announce the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic,” Chan said. In addition, clusters of confirmed cases have been reported in long-term care centers in the US and Australia, implying that elderly people are a high-risk group, Chen said. The government should offer bonuses for long-term care center personnel and postpone annual assessments of care facilities so that they can focus on disease prevention, she said. The government, academics and industry should cooperate to enhance disease prevention in long-term care facilities, she said.

Source: Taipei Times March 09, 2020 16:01 UTC