GINEVRA, 6 FEBBRAIO – Gian Lorenzo Cornado, permanent delegate of Italy in Geneva, spoke to WHO about Coronavirus and said that “Italy wishes to thank the Director General of WHO, all its offices and staff engaged in the response to the novel Coronavirus outbreak. We are also grateful to China for its strong efforts at national level to contain the disease and cooperate with the international community in spirit of solidarity”.
Cornado added that since the very first beginning, ”as we received news on a new severe epidemic caused by a novel virus, Italy has applied all WHO recommendations on prevention, containment and control of the infection, including the isolation and treatment of suspected and confirmed cases…..Close contacts of suspected and confirmed cases are being monitored at home by professional staff of the National Health Service”.
Recalling italian role in emergency, Cornado said that ”after the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the DG of WHO, further preventive measures have been adopted by our Government to protect both Italian citizens, residents and as a contribution to the global efforts to contain the spread of the virus…All these measures are being implemented under the principle of precaution, will be kept in place for the specific purpose of public health protection, and could be flexibly reviewed as appropriate”.
Thanking the People’s republic of China ”for having facilitated the repatriation of Italian nationals from Wuhan”, Cornado revealed that they ”have travelled smoothly and safely back, under the strictest containment measures, abiding to the highest available standards on this field, where Italy has a specific expertise”.
Finally, ”Italy’s National Institute of reference for Infectious Diseases Spallanzani played also a great role in isolating the genetic sequence of the virus. The genetic sequence of the virus is public on Gene Bank as a contribution to the efforts to develop vaccines and appropriate treatments in the shortest possible time’
