The World Health Organization warned Monday that too many countries were bungling their response to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning there could be no return to normality any time soon.
After a daily record of 230,000 new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday, the UN health agency said the pandemic was only going to get worse unless people stuck to the basics of physical distancing, handwashing, wearing masks and staying home if sick.
If governments do not roll out a comprehensive strategy to suppress transmission of the virus, and if the public do not follow the basics,"there is only one way this pandemic is going to go," Dr Tedros said. The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 570,000 people and infected more than 12.9 million since the outbreak emerged in Wuhan in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said it was not yet known whether recovered COVID-19 patients could be infected again, but"with other coronaviruses, that is the case".While those infected did mount some level of immune response through antibodies,"what we don't know is how strong that protection is, and for how long that protection will last", she said.
"The WHO also believes that finding the origin is a constantly developing process that could involve multiple countries and regions," Ms Hua insisted.
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