Developments from iran the wells. With updates about travel restrictions and how to protect yourself. To read a virus pandemic special coverage on how to say or. Move to. Cope with 19 has killed more than 18000 people and infected at least 400000 worldwide and counting. It all started in december last year when cases of an unusual pneumonia were reported in the chinese city of war haun. Most of those affected by the unknown virus seem to have something in common they were working at a local seafood market. At the Chinese Health authorities were trying to investigate the causes of the illness the numbers kept growing on january 7th the World Health Organization announced it had identified the new virus 4 days later 41 people had been diagnosed in china and the 1st death was reported. By january 13th cases in other countries began to appear. And the death toll jumped from tens to hundreds to thousands in the coming weeks and months governments worldwide took different measures to stop the corona virus but it was too late on march 11th the w. H. O. Declared the outbreak a pandemic for many coba 1000 has changed the world as we know it. From social gatherings to schools to airports from factories to diplomacy and the media weve all had to make unprecedented changes to stop this pandemic im humming. Week after week talk to aljazeera travels to different locations to sit down with World Leaders and Decision Makers but this time the restrictions put in play. To ease the effects of the pandemic means we have to stay where we are so is the world doing enough to combat this Global Health crisis and when will the battle against culvert 19 be one find out as the executive director of the World Health Organizations Emergency Program dr michael ryan talks to aljazeera. Dr mike ryan thank you for talking to aljazeera dr ryan in the past few weeks i heard you say that you believe that we were in the beginning or possibly the middle of this pandemic what do you think now any predictions on where we might be in all of this and when it might be over. Actually think predictions are extremely unhelpful at this moment potomac is evolving rapidly all over the world. There is no accurate way to predict. The future in the coming weeks we have to deal with what we see now and we have to plan for the situation deteriorating in a number of countries in which it already has in many many countries or not in that situation many countries have a lower number of cases and they need to to work as hard as they can to contain this fire so that they dont progress into the situation that other countries find themselves in now where do things stand right now when it comes to potential vaccines and treatments vaccines are. A long way out of this point and you know clear with and honest with everyone its going to take at least a year to bring vaccines into the fight against this white house there are these 30 candidates actually is currently being developed are already under under under trials in fact trials were started last week in the United States and further trials will be starting in china and other countries in the coming weeks. So we have hope in that vaccine candidates are going into trials but once theres a series of steps phase one to. 3 trials that need to be completed and then we need to be able to scale of produce and distribute that vaccine to everyone who needs it thats a massive effort its going to require a coordinated Public Private partnership to do that we will get vaccines but its going to take time but in the meantime theres a lots we can do about this virus there is a drug called hydroxy chloroquine thats an antimalaria drug theres been a lot of talk about it by World Leaders and in the news the past couple of weeks because there was a small french study that the drug showed promise as a potential treatment for corona virus the problem now is that because thats out there there are shortages of this drug in parts of the world so there are people who need it who cant get the treatment whats the position of the w. H. O. Regarding this particular drug as a potential treatment and i think you said the 2 key words there you said promise and potential and certainly there are many candidates to turn a few ticks or drugs that are showing some promise or potential but we need to be exceptionally careful the studies that have been done so far small observational studies they give hints at what might be useful and as it happens we are putting. The floor of a mentor going into rapidly designed large scale Clinical Trials across a number of countries and we need those answers and we also need to be aware that these drugs are needed for people with other conditions so it is not advisable for individuals or all those to be using precious drugs for which we dont have to are evidence for their use and cope with one team. And its extremely important that we rely on the results that are going to come from trials that will tell us how safe and how effective these drugs are there are so many different ideas out there and these ideas are wonderful and doctors and nurses are trying everything they can to save patients and during the process we will come up with promising interesting. Opportunities but it is. Its very important that we ensure these are safe effective treatments for over 1000 and that work is well underway but again we must ensure that patients who need those drugs for other conditions can still get them and doctors avoid using these drugs unless theyre part of observe ational studies or Clinical Trials dr ryan let me ask you specifically about the United States because the w. H. O. It has warned that the u. S. Is at risk of becoming potentially the next epicenter of the cove in 1000 outbreak at the same time u. S. President donald trump has insisted that the country could be back to work in a matter of weeks is rhetoric like that that President Trump is using irresponsible. I think the response of the u. S. Is being ramping up over the last number of weeks and quite its a huge response and all of government response with the states the private sector and the federal government no fully fully. Enabled and and accelerating their response we all what ive said this before lockdowns alone will not work we have to be able to exit from transition from lock down into into solid Public Health interventions like case finding Contact Tracing isolation and quarantine we need at the moment were separating people from people with physical distancing and lock down measures to restrict the movements of individuals that will that will dampen the flames of this pandemic but it will not get rid of the virus so if you would have watched the u. S. Government press briefing they were very clear they want to break the problem down state by state they want to see where they can contain the virus with very strong Public Health measures and theyre working extremely hard to save lives in the hospital in the hospital setting everybody nobody wants to stay in a situation where populations are locked down it is it does social it does either. Anomic damage and everybody should be seeking an exit strategy from from that process but there is no way out of that until we build a Public Health interventions until we have the testing in place and until were able to cope with the patients that come to our hospitals and this is something were working very very closely with the United States on and with many other countries but again many countries have not reached that point of having Widespread Community transmission in fact if we look at and in africa if we look at Southeast Asia if we look in the Eastern Mediterranean regions of our organization they represent less than 10 percent of cases around the world and less than 10 percent of all the debts many countries still have the opportunity to avoid having to going to those draconian measures and can use much more extensive Public Health measures we need to build this response from the community of we need to leverage and mobilize communities in the developing world so they take action they can be part of the solution and i believe many many countries in the world can avoid the worst impacts of this pandemic if they are now and can avoid the the worst of the Economic Impacts as well well dr and let me follow up on a point that youre making specifically with regard to africa because youve said repeatedly these past few weeks that you know because africa has been on the frontlines of dealing with epidemics and responding to epidemics that they may be in a better position then other countries believe them to be in but at the same time youve also said that Good Governance is the key you know how concerned are you about what may play out in africa. Many african countries and countries in the Eastern Mediterranean north africa and in the middle east. Have major issues with conflict with fragility and Weak Health System so theres no question that the risks to those countries their people the Health Systems on their economies are grace but if you if you look at the after the african region of Subsaharan Africa at this moment in time there are only about 1300. 00 cases terrible need less than 30 deaths so this pandemic is still at a very early stage and those countries. Africa and many other countries in the middle east are faced major epidemics and have been facing them for decades for years you bola cholera measles yellow fever polio and have dealt with those epidemics and it does require Good Governance it does require an all of government approach but it also requires leveraging and unleashing the power of communities in these countries to be able to empower them to take action because in many countries the the governmental systems and the governmental acca texture is not Strong Enough to deliver services to everybody at the same time so we need to empower our communities in developing countries in fragile states to to to be able to take action themselves in surveillance and Community Based surveillance and Community Care and i have the United Nations system stands squarely behind those countries and today the secretary general. And the director general of w. H. O. Dr ted us are launching a major humanitarian appeal to support those countries dr ryan in the press briefings you conduct youve spoken often about vulnerable communities and so i want to ask you specifically about refugees and migrants ive reported extensively in the past on refugee related and migrant related issues ive reported extensively on the plight of the rink ive been many times of those camps and coxs Bazar Bangladesh and im. Hearing repeatedly these past few weeks from refugees in those areas who are terrified about the toll that covert 19 could take on their population refugees in other parts of the world also extremely worried is the International Community doing enough to protect these vulnerable communities and if not what should they be doing theres no question that refugee and displaced populations particularly those living in overcrowded and underserved camps are at a particular risk for 2 reasons one they live in a confined environment they live very very close together and often in conditions that hygiene and sanitation are difficult to to maintain we weve seen how this virus has spread on cruise ships where people are put together even in luxury situations imagine how fast that disease will spread in a camp where people are pushed together and where hygiene and sanitation is very difficult to deliver 2nd reason im concerned and others my colleagues with the program day at the United NationsHigh Commission for refugees and others are very concerned is that many People Living in camp conditions are. Stressed theyre under there many of them have had conditions themselves theyre living with ill health already many of them and there are many many many Vulnerable Children many of them undernourished are recovering from other Infectious Diseases so this is a highly vulnerable population in which this disease could spread extremely quickly the. Interagency Standing Committee of the u. N. Weve come together under the leadership of mark lowcock and issued very specific guidelines for how to prepare in these situations and i know that the u. N. Country teams are working very very hard all around the world to support governments and support n. G. O. S in providing Better Services to those populations but. It needs to accelerate and that is what the humanitarian appeal is about today we need to. Cellar efforts to play protect these highly vulnerable individuals and by doing that by giving more space by giving Better Services by improving sanitation and hygiene we will not only fight call with 1000 in these situations but offer these people the dignity the respect and the help that they deserve and what about countries where conflicts are taking place countries like syria or yemen how what risk are the populations there. Very well obviously similarly at risk given their own individual vulnerability given the collapse and breakdown of Health Services and given the difficulty in accessing them when there is an epidemic. And weve just spent a year and a half in northern congo in the middle of a very contentious conflict zone trying to eliminate a very serious and devastating outbreak of of people weve lost colleagues weve lost friends in that fight against ebola it is doubly difficult to deliver Public Health services in situations of conflict and say our secretary general and only a few chairs. Announced the other day in a v w job very much supports this position that the lockdown we need right now is on conflict we need to reduce conflict warring sides need to step aside and allow Public Health to come to the aid of civilians in these situations dr and you mention ebola can the Lessons Learned from fighting a bowler be applied to combating covert 19. Yes i think they can obviously has only affected relatively small parts of africa but what many lessons have been been learned in those responses and the responses to cholera of a fever last another and other diseases but to specifically in any ball of breaks may be contained by outside support or we support the containment of disease from outside the main way in which it will as contained as communities communities knowing what the disease is knowing how to stop it spread knowing how to participate in surveillance participate in Public Health measures and being supported by the national and International Community. At the height of the able outbreak in congo in 2 provinces we were tracking and tracing and visiting 25000 contacts every day in the middle of the what was effectively a shooting war so it is possible to carry out large scale Public Health interventions even in the most extreme of circumstances and we need public Health Authorities all around the world to pick up that flag and move surveillance Contact Tracing isolation and quarantine these are the central tenets of containment the measures like physical distancing measures like lockdowns Movement Restrictions are useful they dampen the flames but they do not get rid of the virus and this is what we need to do have a comprehensive strategy with all of these actions taken place breaking the problem down. A country like the democratic republic of congo or nigeria ethiopia very large countries you cant deal with the problem the same way in each of the different provinces the situation may be very different in each of the different problems so we need to break the problem down power communities go after the virus the International Community through the United Nations system will provide every assistance to countries in doing that i know the world bank and others have released large. Most of funding to support countries and their National Action plans and 90 percent of countries around the world know have integrated National Action plans for the control of coal with 19 we need to support those plans we need to fund those plans we need to send send surge support to help countries implement and please the world can be assured of to be a jewel in the United Nations absolute commitment to support countries in this doctor and i want to move for a moment to talking about the current epicenter of the pandemic italy i was in northern italy in late february reporting on the cove in 1000 outbreak many of the people that i spoke to there they were extremely worried about the toll that it would take on the economy but at the same time they did not believe that things would get as bad as they have currently gotten so i want to ask you what factors are at play there that things have gotten so bad in italy. I think there are a number of i mean i think everyone has has been taken aback at the acceleration in initially and the death toll but similar situations are emerging in countries like spain france the u. K. Many others around europe and what were seeing is Health Systems and Public Health systems under extreme strain but were also seeing huge really courageous workers our heroes people in the front like saving lives every day helping their communities and we want to shout out and call out to our colleagues in the front line. Ive been in that situation it is tiring it is stressful it is frightening but it is a job these people do with great honor europe got a little caught behind the curve i think everybody around the world was assuming this will be easier to deal with than it was they made some assumptions around this disease being like influenza which its not. And many countries have had to play a good degree of catch up but again i think the Italian Government are demonstrating that theyre demonstrating great leadership theyre fighting hard. And theyre saving lives but the situation is tough its overwhelming and our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and isnt it today dr eye because you mentioned specifically Health Workers and the challenges theyre facing lets talk for a moment about that especially in spain where many have gotten sick and many have died whats being done to protect Health Workers in europe and other parts of the world as well well all governments around the world are scrambling to bolt train Health Workers provide them with a safe environment to work because its not just about having protective equipment you have to work in an environment thats not so overcrowded that it becomes risky that you transfer affection to yourself or to others soldiers have been a real push to expand hospital beds to increase the number of intensive care. Its available to increase the number of beds that can provide Critical Care and youve seen the that. Through through ventilation and ventilators moving and being delivered all in many countries but a major issue has been the provision of personal protective equipment to help workers theres been a a market failure of global level there was a massive undersupply that was under production and distributing those protective equipment gowns close masks respirators to help workers around the world is is a difficult task weve been working very very hard with the pub the public and the private sector and in the Pandemic Supply Chain Network bringing together the u. N. System with many private suppliers to try and be a provider of last resort to countries who are struggling to find such equipment on their national or International Markets we thank Many Companies and governments who are really working to supply us with with extra material our warehouses in dubai were practically empty but now are being resupplied from china which is as fantastic but again to be a joe can only in this sense be a provider of last resort we can fill gaps we can provide Emergency Support but this problem has to be solved at the at the political level between countries it has to be solved by the private sector in avoiding according them and price rises and weve got to make sure that these we rationalize the use of this equipment so that frontline Health Workers are the ones that are getting this equipment and using it so theres a lot to do and i hope Global Leaders can come together and find a way to ensure that all Health Workers around the world get the protection that they need as they serve us and save the lives of our friends our families and our communities dr ryan theres a lot of conspiracy theories out there right now especially due to the rivalry between the u. S. And china has the w. H. O. Been asked to investigate claims that covert 19 was manmade. We know weve not been specifically requested to do that but what i can assure you is weve been tracking the genetics on this wire so since the very beginning weve heard scientists around the world looking at this virus weve heard all the sequences that are being posted on public websites with our support and. There is no evidence whatsoever at the moment that this is anything other than a virus thats emerged from nature we tend to look for these explanations in situations when weve such a. Horrific event but the reality is and this has always been the reality is that we human beings have behaved in a way over the last number of years weve globalized the planet and with that globalization have come some benefits in terms of freedom of movement in terms of economy but we have stressed the environment we have invaded the animal human interface we have allowed diseases to cross into humans and when those diseases do cross from animals to humans those diseases can amplify and poorly equipped Health Facilities they can amplify in peri urban slums they can amplify amongst stressed refugee populations and then they can spread because we are connected globally so the problem we have right now is manmade the problem we have right now is that we have left ourselves vulnerable to emerging diseases who the diseases themselves are entirely natural but the situation in which these diseases are spreading because we human beings have created the conditions in which these diseases can spread and cause as you see tremendous damage to our Health Systems to our economies to our social systems or more importantly deaths amongst those we love dr ryan are you getting the sense that people are changing as a result of this and that populations around the world will be changed as a result of this that they will start to have a different outlook when it comes to all of this. I think we were all all of us are still coming to terms with this event. And everybody has something to do everybodys got a job ive got a job every Single Member of every Single Community has a job youve got to protect others youve got to protect yourself youve got to protect your community youve got to contribute youve got to do what you can to stop this disease and when this is done we all need to sit down and see what sort of society we want to have a future one thats prepared one thats ready one thats equipped with the supplies it needs and one thats willing to invest in the sort of defense we need as a population. Are we to be defended from foreign armies are we to be defended from viruses where are we putting our investments in a society where we placing our Major Investments in the protection of our society our civilization on our way of life thats a conversation for later but its a conversation that can begin now but now we have to fight. Dr ryan thank you for talking to al jazeera. They just. Told. April on aljazeera. Countries are imposing drastic measures to contain the corona virus pandemic well bring you all the latest developments from around the world falls and Untold Stories from across asia pacific one i want east brings new insights from the wells most populated region as the democratic president ial race narrows how will the corona Virus Outbreak impact the u. S. Election come play an indepth end of the investigative lateral running cat group of independent journalists im becky wrote in the global fight against faith means the u. S. Will count its population and a once in a decade census with coronavirus concerns will it get the full picture april on aljazeera. In the midst of a coronavirus pandemic china is in lockdown. One o one east reports from inside the quarantine up to the patient on aljazeera. Join the listening post as we turn the cameras on the media india has more than 424 Hour Television news channel morning talkers and focus on how they report on the stories that matter the most the states misleads the public the state media reflects the same thing as Climate Change whole their editorial shows they dont believe they have anything to apologize for theyre listening post on aljazeera the us is always of interest to people all around the world this is been going on for a number of tear gas being used to repeat the recent International Perspective to try to explain their little audience how this could impact their lives this is an important part of the world now does it is very good news to the world from here. Record numbers of infections in the us skyrocket if a country grapples with bringing the coronavirus pandemic under control. They have to go back to work our country has to go back our country is based on. Im Richelle Carey this is al jazeera life and also coming up a call for unity in paying says the u. S. And china most united Work Together to fight the virus. The party is over fears that no one