Expressing his concern, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that the worst of the Coronavirus pandemic is yet to come.
“Trust us. The worst is yet ahead of us,” the WHO chief said Monday. “Let’s prevent this tragedy. It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.”
He compared the coronavirus outbreak, which worldwide has sickened nearly 2.5 million people and killed more than 170,000, to the 1918 Spanish flu that killed as many as 100 million worldwide. But he said that such a dire outcome does not have to occur.
“Now we have technology, we can prevent that disaster, we can prevent that kind of crisis,” Tedros said.
During his media briefing on 20 April, the WHO chief said “Ending the epidemic will require a sustained effort on the part of individuals, communities and governments to continue suppressing and controlling this deadly virus.
So-called lockdowns can help to take the heat out of a country’s epidemic, but they cannot end it alone.
Countries must now ensure they can detect, test, isolate and care for every case, and trace every contact.”
– With inputs from from W.H.O and Voice of America