UNITED NATIONS, Mar 20: Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley said that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Friends and Colleagues – I want you to be among the first to know that in the past few hours I have received confirmation, after testing, that I have the COVID-19 virus. I began feeling unwell this past weekend after returning to my home in the United States from an official visit to Canada and I took an early decision to go into self-quarantine, five days ago,” Beasley said in a statement, adding that his symptoms had been relatively light.
According to the WFP executive director, he was working with the organization to find people, who had come into contact with him.
“Like so many of you at WFP, I have had to change my pattern of work and join meetings remotely from my own home in South Carolina. It is my full intention to continue working and joining all of you virtually on a regular basis, throughout the period of self-isolation that I must now strictly observe,” Beasley added.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. More than 244,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 10,000 fatalities, according to John Hopkins University.
(AGENCIES)
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