Background
On December 31st, 2019 the World Health Organisation (WHO) -Country Office, in the People’s Republic of China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, in the People’s Republic of China(1)
The WHO -Country Office, notified the International Health Regulations (IHR) focal point in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office about the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission media statement of the cases and provided a translation of it.
Several health authorities from around the world also contacted the WHO seeking additional information.
On January 1st 2020 The WHO requested information on the reported cluster of atypical pneumonia cases in Wuhan from the Chinese authorities.
The WHO activated its Incident Management Support Team (IMST), as part of its emergency response framework(1)
From here on in, the events continue to unfold into what was confirmed as a global pandemic on March 12th, 2020 by the WHO. This has required a collaborative global response like no other seen by our generation.