Situation Report –64 Coronavirus, World Health Organization

A new report from WHO about a new campaign with FIFA, the success of WHO WhatsApp Health Alert and more.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Four new countries/territories/areas from the South-East Asia Region [1], and Region of the Americas [3] have reported cases of COVID-19.
• WHO has delivered a new shipment of emergency medical supplies to the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of COVID-19 response measures. Details can be found on the WHO Regional Office forthe Eastern Mediterranean  here.
• The WHO WhatsApp Health Alert has now attracted 10 million users since launching Friday, and theCOVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund has raised more than US $70 million, in just 10 days. The media briefing can be found here
• WHO and FIFA launched a joint campaign to equip the football community to tackle COVID-19. This awareness campaign callson all people around the world to follow the five key steps to stop the spread of the disease. More information can be found here. 
• WHO and its partners are constantly working to strengthen the chains of essential COVID-19 supplies.  As global demand rises, WHO and its partners aim to ensure assistance to areas most inneed. More information can be found in Subject in Focus.

STRENGTHENING SUPPLY CHAINS TO CREATE GREATEST IMPACT

WHO and the World Food Programme(WFP) areexploring ways to work with the Pandemic Supply Chain Network (PSCN) and Logistical Emergency Teams (L.E.T.)  to ensure that logistical assets are in place to support the increasing global demand for COVID-19 supplies. This is to ensure that supplies are allocated effectively and equitably inthe places where they are needed the most.
WHO is also working withthe World Bank to develop demand modelingfrom a country-based perspective. This will allow the sharing and support of technical guidance and allocation mechanisms and ensure that critical supplies are distributed with most impact.

The planning effort will support the mapping of scenarios as well as what is needed for stocks and procurement. With the engagement of the World Bank, the PSCN seeks to bring together the overview of the market’s capability to provide and distribute the necessary supplies, WHO demand forecasting and the necessary financial and political support to fight COVID-19

Representatives from both WFP andthe United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)have joined the WHO team at HQto establish the Supply Chain Coordination Cell (SCCC). The objectives of the SCCC are to:

• Establish a COVID-19 supply chain working group to deepen inter-agency collaboration with the aim of minimizing disruptions to current humanitarian operations, while increasing efficiency and coherenceof the COVID-19 response.
• Provide a centralized voice through the collection and dissemination of information to the UN Crisis Management Team (UNCMT), other relevant forums, as well as the wider humanitarian community, to support strategic guidance, operational decision-making, and overall monitoring.
• Foster the creation of regional and country level coordination mechanisms aimedat implementing efforts, while maintaining the overall coordination of the response.
• Create a smaller joint procurement group of medical equipment buying agencies.

For more information you can find here.