After 500,000 deaths, WHO warns worst of coronavirus pandemic is “yet to come”

The WHO warns the pandemic ‘is not even close to being over’, as the number of deaths worldwide exceeds 500,000.

Global coronavirus cases now exceed 10 million and more than half a million people have died from the respiratory disease, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States accounts for about a quarter of all deaths.
Pakistan’s COVID-19 cases have passed the 200,000 mark after 3,602 new infections were reported on Sunday.
The US health secretary Alex Azar has warned the “window is closing” for decisive action to curb the virus as cases there surge.
The Australian state of Victoria has found 75 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours – the highest daily count in two months. Its top health official says the number is “absolutely concerning”.

Six months since the new coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic is still far from over, the World Health Organization said Monday, warning that “the worst is yet to come.” Reaching the half-year milestone just as the death toll surpassed 500,000 and the number of confirmed infections topped 10 million, the WHO said it was a moment to recommit to the fight to save lives. “Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world — and our lives — would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing. “We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” he said. “Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.”Tedros added that ” we’re all in this for the long haul.” “We will need even greater stores of resilience, patience, humility and generosity in the months ahead,” he said. “We have already lost so much — but we cannot lose hope.” Tedros also said that the pandemic had brought out the best and worst humanity, citing acts of kindness and solidarity, but also misinformation and the politicization of the virus. In an atmosphere of global political division and fractures on a national level, “the worst is yet to come. I’m sorry to say that,” he said. “With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst.”