Coronavirus: Work needs to start now to prepare for next pandemic, WHO warns

Speaking at the WHO media briefing on Wednesday, Dr Tedros said: “The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually recede, but there can be no going back to business as usual. “History will judge all of us not only on whether we got through this pandemic, but also on the lessons we learned and the actions we took once it was over.” Dr Tedros has previously been effusive in his praise of South Korea, which has been able to deal with COVID-19 with its testing and contact tracing systems. Dr Pierre Chan said it meant the territory remained “very alert” to new infectious diseases, meaning people quickly took preventative measures once the outbreak began in mainland China.