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WHO chief: pandemic ‘is going to get worse and worse’
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the coronavirus pandemic is out of control in North and South America, and that the virus will continue to spread unimpeded unless governments and individuals take the necessary steps to suppress your transmission.
More than 12.5 million people worldwide have tested positive for COVID-19, and approximately half of those cases, 6.5 million, have been in the Americas. On Saturday, almost 143,000 of the 230,000 new cases in the world were in North and South America.
“The epicenter of the virus remains in the Americas, where more than 50 percent of the world’s cases have been reported,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Monday. “It appears that many countries are losing realized gains as proven measures are not implemented or follow to reduce risk.”
European countries confirmed just 18,804 new cases on Saturday. African nations reported 17,884 new cases, and Southeast Asian nations reported 33,173 new cases, the vast majority of which were confirmed in India, which is struggling with its own major outbreak.
Global health officials have repeatedly emphasized that the virus will continue to spread until an effective vaccine is available. They target countries that have brought the virus under control through sound, albeit basic, testing, tracing, and isolation practices for those who have been infected or exposed to the virus.
Without those steps, Tedros warned, life will not return to normal any time soon.
“If basic principles are not followed, there is only one way this pandemic is going to go: it is going to get worse, and worse and worse,” said Tedros. “There will be no return to normal in the foreseeable future. But there is a roadmap for a situation where we can control the disease and get on with our lives.”
Six months after the first case identified in Washington state was confirmed, the United States is now the most affected of all the countries in the world. The nation reported 66,281 new cases on Saturday and 57,789 on Sunday.
Almost 135,000 people in the US have died from COVID-19.
Brazil, the next most affected country, reported 45,000 new cases on Saturday. More than 70,000 people in Brazil have died of the disease.
“Let me be frank: too many countries are heading in the wrong direction. The virus remains the number one public enemy, but the actions of many governments and people do not reflect this,” said Tedros. “It is never too late to take decisive action.”
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