WHO Sees “Hope” as Global Coronavirus Cases Surpass 20 Million

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August 11, 2020 Topic: Health Region: World Blog Brand: Coronavirus Tags: WHOPandemicCoronavirusCOVID-19Vaccine

WHO Sees “Hope” as Global Coronavirus Cases Surpass 20 Million

There are many vaccines currently being tested.

The World Health Organization has said that there are “green shoots of hope” in the months-long battle against the coronavirus, even as global cases eclipsed the grim milestone of twenty million

Coronavirus case numbers have skyrocketed exponentially since the first virus was reported in China late last year. The world recorded one million cases about three months later and then reached 10 million cases less than three months after that. Then it took only six weeks for the number to double. 

“I know many of you are grieving and that this is a difficult moment for the world,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference from the agency’s Geneva headquarters. 

“But I want to be clear, there are green shoots of hope and no matter where a country, a region, a city or a town is, it’s never too late to turn the COVID-19 outbreak around.”

Tedros used what had occurred in France, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Italy and the U.K. as positive examples—as each of these countries witnessed large coronavirus outbreaks but was able to eventually suppress the virus’ spread. 

He attributed the coronavirus decline in those nations to “strong and precise” measures from government leaders, stay-at-home directives and wide-ranging face-mask mandates.

“In France, President Emmanuel Macron introduced compulsory masking in busy outdoor spaces of Paris in response to an increase in cases,” Tedros said.

Tedros also took the time to address the current reopening of schools in some regions of the world, including the United States. He noted that countries should use a “risk-based approach” while continuing to be “vigilant.” 

“We all want to see schools safely reopened but we also need to ensure that students, staff and faculty are safe,” he said. 

“The foundation for this is adequate control of COVID-19 transmission … suppress, suppress, suppress the virus. If we suppress COVID-19 effectively, we can safely open up societies.” 

Among the 20.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, there are now at least 737,000 related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University

The United States has the most cases by far, with nearly 5.1 million confirmed infections and more than 163,000 deaths. 

new forecast model released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine is predicting that nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from the novel coronavirus by December 1. 

The new data, however, notes that consistent mask-wearing by 95% of the U.S. population has the potential to save roughly 70,000 lives.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn

Image: Reuters