World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is going into isolation for at least a few days after he revealed he had been in close proximity to someone who has since tested positive.
“I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with WHO protocols, and work from home,” Tedros said in a tweet.
Tedros has been at the forefront of the United Nations health agency’s efforts to battle the pandemic.
Covid-19 has claimed nearly 1.2 million lives and infected over 46 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year.
Tedros stressed on Twitter that “it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance.”
“This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems.”
The 55-year-old former Ethiopian minister of health and foreign affairs has for months reiterated that each person has a role to play in halting the spread of the virus.
The WHO urges all individuals to be careful about hand-washing, wearing masks and keeping a distance, while it calls on authorities at various levels to work to find, isolate, test and care for cases, then trace and quarantine their contacts.
