WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus adjusts his glasses during a press conference at the World Health Organisation's headquarters in Geneva, on December 14, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/ AFP)
Three years ago, the Associated Press reported on the World Health Organization's declaration of "the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week."
"The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an 'extraordinary event' that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response," the report continued.
The same day, U.S. health officials reported the first known case in which the new coronavirus was spread from one person to another in the United States. President Donald Trump described the handful of U.S. cases of the virus as a “very little problem” and said people infected were “recuperating successfully.” The State Department advised U.S. citizens against traveling to China, and Russia ordered the closure of its 2,600-mile-long land border with China in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.
In his speech declaring a global public health emergency, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "Our greatest concern is the potential for this virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”
"The only way we will defeat this outbreak," said Dr. Tedros, "is for all countries to work together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together."
As of Jan. 27, 2023, more than 6.8 million people have died of Covid-19, according to WHO data.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has issued an emergency public health order temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County.
“Extraneous materials” triggered nine recalls in 2022 of more than 477,000 pounds of food regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service — triple the number of recalls tied to food contaminated with toxic E. coli bacteria.
The death of a Massachusetts teenager after his family said he ate an extremely spicy tortilla chip has led to an outpouring of concern about the social media challenge.
Amid offers from several countries, Moroccan officials said they are accepting international aid from just four countries: Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
Danelo Souza Cavalcante stole an unlocked van with its keys inside sometime Saturday night about three-quarters of a mile from the northern perimeter of the search area where hundreds of law enforcement officers had been searching for him.
About 146,000 U.S. auto workers are set to go on strike this week if General Motors, Ford and Stellantis fail to meet their demands for big pay raises and the restoration of concessions the workers made years ago when the companies were in financial trouble.
