The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that its “best estimates” suggest almost 10 percent of the world has been infected by the COVID-19.
That means that roughly one in 10 people across the globe or around a tenth of the planet’s 7.8 billion population have already been infected with the novel coronavirus. The estimate from the World Health Organization comes as it predicts that “a difficult period” lies ahead.
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The figure represents more than 20 times the number of confirmed cases, which currently stands at more than 36 million, and more than 1.05 million have died.
“Our current best estimates tell us about 10% of the world population may have been infected by this Covid-19,” said Mike Ryan, the head of emergency operations at the WHO.
He further told in the meeting that infection levels varied “from urban to rural, it varies between different groups.” “But what it does mean is that the vast majority of the world remains at risk,” he warned.
Ryan made the comments as he addressed the WHO’s 34-member executive board focusing on COVID-19.
Meanwhile, on Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also told in the meeting that the pandemic should serve as a “wake-up call for all of us.” “We must all look in the mirror and ask what we can do better.”
However, WHO chief Tedros pushed back at criticism of the handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic by the UN agency, insisting that from the start it had “worked around the clock to support countries to prepare and respond to this new virus.”
He vigorously defended the reform process at the organization over the past 3 years but said that it should be sped up. Tedros, wearing a black face mask with a colorful pattern on the sides added, “We’re not on the wrong path. We’re on the right path, but we need to go faster.”
