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With more than half a million dead and some 17 million infected, the coronavirus pandemic is the type of disaster that will have a long-lasting effect. This was stated on Friday by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who also commented that humanity remains susceptible to this virus even in areas that have had the least catastrophic figures of the first outbreak.
“The pandemic is a health crisis that occurs once in a century, and whose effects will be felt in the coming decades,” Tedros said at a meeting of the WHO emergency committee, as quoted by the entity.
The disease has left more than 670,000 dead and some 17 million diagnosed cases since it started spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The United States, Brazil, Mexico and Great Britain have been particularly hard hit in recent weeks by covid-19.
Testing new measures
The economies of several countries have been affected by the restrictions introduced to stop its spread, while many regions fear a second wave of contagion. Given the latter, the governments of several countries are testing new measures to mitigate the impact of the disease.
More than 150 pharmaceutical companies are working on vaccines, though their first use is not expected until early 2021, the WHO said last week.
Tedros said that while knowledge about the virus has improved, many questions still remain unanswered and populations remain vulnerable.
“The first results of serology (antibody) studies paint a consistent picture: Most people in the world remain susceptible to this virus, even in areas that have experienced severe outbreaks,” he said.
“Many countries that believed the worst was over are now dealing with new outbreaks. Some who were least affected in the first few weeks are now seeing an increasing number of cases and deaths, “he added.
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