WHO's Tedros: Pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The coronavirus pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.

Additional takeaways

"Will reconvene COVID-19 Emergency Committee again in 90 days, or sooner if needed."

"WHO has grave concerns about the potential virus could have as it starts to accelerate in countries with weaker health systems."

"Will work with countries and partners to enable essential travel for pandemic response, and to gradually resume normal passenger travel."

"January 30 declaration of global emergency was enough time for the rest of the world to respond because we only had 82 cases and no deaths outside of China."

"WHO used the days before declaring a global emergency to go to China to learn more about virus, win ground-breaking agreement with China for who-led investigation."

Market reaction

Risk-off flows continue to dominate the financial markets on Friday. As of writing, Wall Street's main indexes were erasing between 1.2% and 3.15% on a daily basis.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD drops to daily lows near 1.1630

EUR/USD now loses some traction and slips back to the area of daily lows around 1.1630 on the back of a mild bounce in the US Dollar. Fresh US data, including the September PCE inflation numbers and the latest read on December consumer sentiment, didn’t really move the needle, so the pair is still on course to finish the week with a respectable gain.

GBP/USD trims gains, recedes toward 1.3320

GBP/USD is struggling to keep its daily advance, coming under fresh pressure and retreating to the 1.3320 zone following a mild bullish attempt in the Greenback. Even though US consumer sentiment surprised to the upside, the US Dollar isn’t getting much love, as traders are far more interested in what the Fed will say next week.

Gold makes a U-turn, back to $4,200

Gold is now losing the grip and receding to the key $4,200 region per troy ounce following some signs of life in the Greenback and a marked bounce in US Treasury yields across the board. The positive outlook for the precious metal, however, remains underpinned by steady bets for extra easing by the Fed.