An urgent call to improve the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic readiness and response actions in the American region : the World Health Organization

Abstract EN

The pace of the international spread of the ongoing Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a grave cause of concern for the public health authorities.

Moreover, based on the trend of the outbreak in other affected nations, the number of cases is expected to rise further in the coming days in the American region and this calls for the need to prepare health care establishments.

Even though, the spread of the virus cannot be restricted by geographical boundaries, even now, a brief window of opportunity still exists for the health authorities to improve their outbreak readiness and response activities, which in turn will be crucial factors in reducing the overall caseload and saving a multiple number of human lives.

In conclusion, the America region is facing an unprecedented challenge in the form of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and it is expected that the caseload will rise even in the future.

Thus, there is an indispensable need to believe in ourselves and take every small step which can minimize or stop the transmission of the disease and this will essentially require active engagement of all the concerned sectors.