A health worker, wearing a protective suit and a face mask, prepares to administer a nasal swab to a patient at a testing site for coronavirus installed in front of the city hall in Paris, France
About 10% of the global population may have been infected by the coronavirus, according to a senior World Health Organization official.
It's an estimate that's far higher than the total of global confirmed cases reported by governments. At the same time, it would mean that most of the world's population is still vulnerable to getting infected and this pandemic is far from over, the WHO's head of emergencies Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday.
The WHO's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the actual number of deaths from COVID-19 is certainly higher. "Numbers can blind us to the reality that every single life lost is someone who loved and was loved by others – someone's mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son," Tedros said through a mask as he opened the meeting.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, shown here at a meeting on Monday, has said that the coronavirus death toll is likely higher than the more than 1 million fatalities officially reported
"Although all countries have been affected by this virus, we must remember that this is an uneven pandemic. Ten countries account for 70% of all reported cases and deaths, and just 3 countries account for half," he added. Those three countries are the U.S., India and Brazil.
Tedros and other officials highlighted the WHO's actions throughout the pandemic, from issuing guidance, to developing the first diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, to distributing personal protective equipment in low-income countries and expanding PCR testing labs globally.
Cases are spiking most dramatically now in India, but many parts of Latin America are still facing rising daily infection rates. There have been resurgences in several European nations. And in the United States, the number of new infections remains stubbornly high, with the U.S. regularly recording roughly 40,000 cases per day. This is more than Ireland has tallied over the past 9 months.
The WHO is also working to develop new tools to combat COVID-19.
It's helping to test several vaccine candidates and developing plans for how to distribute a vaccine equitably once one is finally approved. It's working on new drugs to treat the disease and new tests to detect it.
A health worker, wearing a protective suit and a face mask, prepares to administer a nasal swab to a patient at a testing site for coronavirus installed in front of the city hall in Paris, France
It's an estimate that's far higher than the total of global confirmed cases reported by governments. At the same time, it would mean that most of the world's population is still vulnerable to getting infected and this pandemic is far from over, the WHO's head of emergencies Dr. Michael Ryan said Monday.
The WHO's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the actual number of deaths from COVID-19 is certainly higher. "Numbers can blind us to the reality that every single life lost is someone who loved and was loved by others – someone's mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son," Tedros said through a mask as he opened the meeting.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, shown here at a meeting on Monday, has said that the coronavirus death toll is likely higher than the more than 1 million fatalities officially reported
