08/21/2020 - 18:38
- Clarín.com
- Society
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Friday that he hopes the world can end the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years , less than the time it took for the pandemic to stop. 1918 flu.
Tedros described COVID-19 as a " unique health crisis in a century " and noted that, although globalization has allowed the virus to spread faster than the flu did more than 100 years ago, technology now also exists to stop it that was not available a century ago.
"We hope to end this pandemic in less than two years, especially if we can join forces ," he said.
In addition, he assured that the coronavirus has given new impetus to the need to accelerate efforts to respond to climate change. "Throughout history, outbreaks and pandemics have changed economies and societies and this will be no different," he said.
For his part, the WHO emergency chief, Dr. Michael Ryan , pointed out that the 1918 pandemic hit the world in three waves, and that the second, which began towards the end of 1918, was the most devastating.
"This virus does not exhibit a similar wave pattern," he said, adding: "When the virus is not under control, it reappears."
This is how bodies pile up in Tucson, Arizona (Photo: AP / Matt York)
Ryan added that although pandemic viruses frequently enter a seasonal pattern, that did not appear to be the case with the coronavirus.
There are currently more than 22 million confirmed cases in the world and more than 795,000 deaths, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
After hitting hard in Europe, especially Great Britain, Spain, Italy and France, the disease is now concentrated in the American continent. The United States is the most affected country on the planet, with 5.54 million cases and 173,500 deaths, followed by Brazil, which exceeded the barrier of 3.5 million infections and 112 thousand deaths.
Source: Agencies
