WHO, 'Olympic Cancellation Is a Matter for Host Country and IOC Decision'

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The World Health Organization (WHO) shifted the responsibility for the possible cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics to the host country Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stating that "WHO's role is to provide technical advice for risk assessment, etc."

Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Emergency Response Team, said at a COVID-19 related press briefing on the 14th (local time), "It is not WHO's role to recommend whether any event should be held or not."

He added, "(The decision to hold the event) depends on the host country," and "WHO has not provided any direction or advice to the IOC."

Meanwhile, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, recently commented on China's change in COVID-19 confirmed case statistics, saying, "We are trying to clarify how clinical diagnosis is conducted to ensure that other respiratory diseases like influenza are not mixed with COVID-19 data."

WHO announced that as of today, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China includes 47,505 laboratory-confirmed patients and 16,427 clinically diagnosed cases, with 1,381 deaths. Outside China, 24 countries have reported 2 deaths and 505 confirmed cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.