The WHO’s designation of COVID-19 as a global pandemic came too late, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday.
Chen, an epidemiologist by training, made the remark at a tree-planting event in Taichung.
On Tuesday, Chen said on Facebook that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ warning to nations that the mortality rate of the disease was increasing was empty, as Tedros failed to look at individual nations’ testing policies.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-che, Taipei Times
“When you see the number of confirmed patients decreasing and the mortality rate increasing, you should pay attention to how that nation is conducting tests,” Chen said.
The number of confirmed cases is related not only to the nation’s population, but also virus test coverage, he said.
Nations only testing people with evident and advanced symptoms will see a low number of confirmed cases and low incidence rates, while those that inspect all who come in contact with confirmed patients would see higher numbers of confirmed patients and incidence rates, he added.
Italy, South Korea, Iran and China lead the world with five confirmed cases per 100,000 people, while the incidence rate in Taiwan, Japan and the US are among the lowest globally at less than 0.5, Chen said.
When fatality rates are included in the equation, nations that limit their calculations to confirmed patients with advanced symptoms will see a higher mortality rate, he said.
The fatality rate is determined by age, history of chronic disease and quality of medical care, he added.
Tedros’ comments simply sparked unnecessary panic and were unbecoming of someone in his position, Chen said.
Prior to his entry into politics, Chen was trained in the field of public health and holds a doctorate in epidemiology and human genetics from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a former president of Academia Sinica.
Additional reporting by CNA
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