Latin America is World’s New Coronavirus Epicenter
Death toll in region surpasses 100,000
A health worker takes a swab sample of a woman for the COVID-19 rapid antigen test as others wait, in New Delhi, India, June 24, 2020.
The World Health Organization expects that within the week, the 10 millionth case of COVID will have been confirmed.
Speaking Wednesday at his regular briefing from Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that in the first month of the pandemic, there were fewer than 10,000 COVID cases reported to his organization, and in the last month, there have been almost 4 million.
Tedros called the expected 10 million-case milestone a “sobering reminder” that there is an urgent responsibility to do everything possible available to stop the spread of the virus.
Tedros also said the WHO supported the decision made this week by the government of Saudi Arabia week to limit the number of pilgrims who can participate in this year's hajj. He said that while he understood it was not an easy decision to make, it was “another example of the hard choices that all countries must make to put health first."
Saudi Arabia to Hold ‘Very Limited' Hajj Due to Virus
The kingdom's Ministry of Hajj said only people of various nationalities already residing in the country would be allowed to perform the large pilgrimage, which is set to begin this year at the end of July
He said that as some countries start to reopen their societies and economies, questions about how to hold gatherings of large numbers of people safely have become increasingly important."