UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande receives an exclusive interview with Xinhua at the UN headquarters in New York, Jan. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Mocheng)
"There is a good reason to let us stick with official sources, otherwise we will get into all kinds of wild speculations that do not help us."
ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on Saturday urged avoiding listening to rumors and unofficial information on the novel coronavirus, while emphasizing solidarity and cooperation of different forms during such times.
"First of all, there should be technical information from those who are mandated to talk about these matters. Secondly there is a good reason to let us stick with official sources, otherwise we will get into all kinds of wild speculations that do not help us," Muhammad-Bande, who is in Ethiopia's capital to attend the 33rd African Union Summit slated for Feb. 9-10, told Xinhua.
Medical personnel pose for a photo at Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 4, 2020. (Photo by Fan Xianhai/Xinhua)
The president also said solidarity, scientific efforts, and financial support can tide us over the current situation, recalling that epidemics such as Ebola have been overcome through such efforts.
Muhammad-Bande reiterated the need to get information in a transparent and timely manner and hailed the work by the Chinese government in this regard.
"For the UN what is important is simply to ensure transparency and timely information ... I think the ambassador of China to UN himself gave a very well covered briefing on the matter," he said.■
