Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) — is warning there is a possibility there may never be a “silver bullet” to cure the coronavirus.
On Monday, Tedros appeared for a media briefing about the pandemic where he offered an update on the efforts being made to combat the coronavirus.
Despite the vaccines undergoing clinical trials, Tedros insists there may never be a “silver bullet” when it comes to treating COVID-19.
“A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection,” Tedros said.
He added, “However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be. For now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health.”
Tedros went on to stress the importance of “testing, isolating, and treating patients and tracing and quarantining their contacts.”
See Tedros’ remarks below:
El director de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, ha recordado que de momento no hay una solución para acabar con el coronavirus y “quizás nunca haya”, a pesar de los avances en la búsqueda de una vacunahttps://t.co/RXtLB6VSFq pic.twitter.com/XOZxFstXf6
— EL PAÍS América (@elpais_america) August 3, 2020
Tedros’ latest remarks follow repeated warnings about the lack of unity between nations as the coronavirus continues to spread internationally.
In July, Tedros urged leaders to unify as he posed the question: “How is it difficult for humans to unite and fight a common enemy that is killing people indiscriminately?”
In April, Tedros also warned against politicizing the coronavirus as President Donald Trump ripped into the agency and its connection to China.
“Please don’t politicize this virus,” Tedros said, adding, “The focus of all political parties should be to save their people.”
He also warned that politicization of the coronavirus could lead to “more body bags.”
“If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus],” the WHO leader said. “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.”
As of Monday morning, there are more than 18 million coronavirus cases worldwide including 4.8 million cases in the United States. The international death toll is also approaching 700,000.
