The director general of the World Health Organization hopes that the coronavirus pandemic will be over in less than two years
When the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, most of us did not know that it was the beginning of one of the worst pandemics in the history of the world. In the last eight months, nearly 23 million people worldwide have been infected with the virus, and more than 800,000 lives have been lost as a result, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Unfortunately, it seems, the pandemic is not ending soon. On Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced at a news conference in Geneva that we should probably have another year-plus.
“We hope to complete the pandemic in less than two years,” he said, noting that the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic took two years to overcome. He added that the biggest difference between that pandemic and this one is that due to a progression in technology and the ability for people to travel freely around the world, there is more potential for proliferation.
“In our situation now with more technology, and of course with more connectivity, the virus has a better chance of spreading, it can move fast because we are now more connected,” Ghebreyesus said.
However, science is also advanced, which gives us more of a chance to attack the virus with drugs. By “using the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools such as faxes, I think we can complete it in a shorter time than the flu of 1918,” he continued. He hopes that once a vaccine is developed, the virus can be eliminated earlier than two years, and also points out that “national unity, global solidarity” can also help.
The Spanish flu, which was devastated between February 1918 and April 1920, infected nearly 500 million people worldwide and killed as many as 50 million. The WHO declared that the pandemic was a three-wave event. The second, which occurred in that latter half of 1918, was the deadliest.
Ghebreyesus warned that just because we have made progress in recent months, the battle has not been won. “Progress does not mean victory,” he said. “The fact remains that most people remain susceptible to this virus.”
He notes that there could be a silver lining to the pandemic: The world could be a better place.
Throughout history, outbreaks & pandemics have changed economies and societies. #COVID is no different, but it gives us a once-in-a-century opportunity to shape the world our children will inherit.pic.twitter.com/ojYoIgk3WG
– Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) 21 August 2020
“Throughout history, outbreaks and pandemics have changed economies and societies, this will be no different,” he said, pointing out that the pandemic “has given us a glimpse of the world as it could be: cleaner skies” and rivers … better building means greener rebuilding. ”
“COVID-19 is a once-in-a-century health crisis,” he continued. “But it also gives us the opportunity once a century to shape the world our children will inherit – the world we want.”
Information about COVID-19 is changing rapidly, and Scary Mommy is committed to providing the most up-to-date data in our coverage. With news being updated so often, some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For this reason, we encourage readers to use online resources local public health departments, de Centers for Disease Control, and the world health organization to stay as informed as possible.
See the original article at ScaryMommy.com
