"So-called lockdowns and the impact on global travel and trade have already taken such a heavy toll”, says @DrTedros at @WHO #covid19 presser. "The global economy is expected to contract by trillions of dollars this year."

"Many countries have poured money into domestic stimulus packages”, says @drtedros. "But these investments will not on their own address the root cause of the economic crisis – which is the disease that paralyses health systems, disrupts economies and drives fear and uncertainty“

Today, @WHO and partners are publishing strategy plan and investment case for scale-up phase of the ACT Accelerator, says @DrTedros.
Aims to deliver
- 2 billion doses of vaccine
- 245 million treatment courses
- 500 million tests
to low/middle income countries by end of 2021

Current financing gap is $35 billion, says @drtedros. "To put it in perspective, $35 billion is less than 1% of what G20 governments have already committed to domestic economic stimulus packages… It's roughly equivalent to what the world spends on cigarettes every two weeks"

Q: World is close to 1 million #covid19 deaths. Is it possible another million will die?
“One million is a terrible number and I think we need to reflect on that before we start considering the second million”, says @DrMikeRyan. "There is a lot that can be done to save lives."

“Whether another million people die of #COVID19 is not a function of whether or not we have a vaccine”, says Bruce Aylward. "It's a function of whether or not we put the tools and approaches and knowledge that we have today to work to save lives and prevent transmission."

Q: how to get especially young people to change behaviour?
Older people get this wrong, says @DrMikeRyan. "The vast majority of young people that I know are just as committed to containing this disease and saving lives as anybody else. In fact, more committed."

“We have to see how we can support youth, like we support any sector in our society, to protect themselves and protect others”, says @DrMikeRyan. "I really hope we don't get into a sort of finger wagging... not a dialogue that is going to work, it certainly never worked with me."

(Side note: For 9 months now I have been impressed by @DrMikeRyan’s #Covid19 communication. This is not about some kind of technical skill, his words are powerful because they are always informed by his humanity, by a will to understand not judge, to listen not talk.)

Q about Africa and its success so far.
“We're not out of the woods anywhere and I would say we're not out of the woods in Africa”, says @DrMikeRyan. Lab capacity increased immensely, but "still many areas outside main cities where testing is not as good as it should be."

"Africa has many lessons to teach the world about how to be resilient, how to be creative”, says @DrMikeRyan. "I have learned, side by side with many of my African colleagues on the front line and I guarantee you, I've learned more than I've ever taught."

“Thing I've noticed over my career with colleagues who've been trained and worked in Africa, is that they immediately think about the community dimension as the first thing they think about not the last thing they think about”, says @DrMikeRyan.

Q about resurgence in Europe.
“We are seeing in a number of countries right now, an increasing trend in cases. And part of that is due to the fact that we have better surveillance”, says @mvankerkhove. “But what is worrying to us is an increase in hospitalizations"

Cases increasing fast in parts of Europe, says @DrMikeRyan. “We are seeing hospitals starting to have more occupancy, we're seeing ICUs beginning to have more occupancy, we're starting to see a small uptick in deaths in older people and that will inevitably become more.

Lockdowns are last resort, says @DrMikeRyan. “To think that we're back in last resort territory in September, at the beginning of the autumn. I think that’s a pretty sobering thought. Have we really exhausted all of the tools, so we're back to lockdowns as a solution? "

“We have to move fast”, says @DrMikeRyan. "I think Europe has as a lot of work to do right now to stabilize the situation and bring the transmission under some kind of control"