The number of coronavirus cases has shot up to 26,39,025 globally and 1,84,263 people have lost their lives. At a time when the cases are surging in almost all parts of the world, the World Health Organisation has come up with a warning that needs to be taken rather seriously.
“COVID-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come,” warned the Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a virtual press conference in Geneva. “Most countries were still in the early stages of tackling the pandemic. A few countries that thought had the new coronavirus under control are now witnessing a resurgence in cases,” he added.
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During the past few months, WHO has also been criticised for not acting swiftly enough. To this, the Director-General said that the UN health agency had declared a global emergency on January 30. “This in turn provided countries enough time to come up with a plan to handle the crisis,” he said.
“Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” said Ghebreyesus. While his word may come out as a stern warning, we shouldn’t panic and lose hope. Almost the entire globe is under lockdown and adequate steps are being taken to ensure the safety of everyone.
As far as India is concerned, we have a total of 16,454 active cases and 681 people have died due to the virus. The tally of confirmed cases, as per media reports has, however, crossed the 21,000 mark. While states like Kerala seemed to have flattened the curve, others like Telangana have decided to extend the lockdown beyond May 3. This, however, seems to be the right step as coronavirus is predicted to be at its peak in India in the first two weeks of May.
According to media reports, the cases could rise up to 2,50,000 lakh. How can we stay safe? Well, the least we can do right now is cooperate with the govt and strictly follow the lockdown, stay indoors and keep our surroundings sanitised. Practising social distancing is the only thing in our hands till the time we do not get a vaccine, which, every country in the world is aiming to produce right now to fight the pandemic.
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