The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said the world will record one million cases of Covid-19 within the next few days.
Ghebreyesus who made the disclosure at a press briefing, equally expressed concerns about the “rapid escalation and global spread” of coronavirus.
He said, “As we enter the 4th month since the start of the #COVID19 pandemic, I am deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection. Over the past 5 weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new COVID-19 cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area.”
“The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed #COVID19 cases, and 50,000 deaths.”
The WHO boss said although African countries, as well as locations in Central and South America, had recorded “relatively lower numbers” of cases of infection, the effects could be serious in terms of social, economic and political consequences.
“It is critical that we ensure these countries are well equipped to detect, test, isolate and treat #COVID19 cases, and identify contacts – I am encouraged to see that this is occurring in many countries, despite limited resources,” he said.
“Many countries are asking people to stay at home and shutting down population movement, which can help to limit transmission of the #coronavirus, but can have unintended consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable people. I have called on governments to put in place social welfare measures to ensure vulnerable people have food and other life essentials during this crisis.”
The Coronavirus since the outbreak in December in Wuhen province China has infected more than 800,000 people and killed over 40,000.
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