The World Health Organization reported this Friday a record number of new cases of coronavirus in the world: more than 350 thousand infections in one day.
The new maximum of one day, of 350 thousand 766 cases, exceeds a maximum imposed a few days ago by almost 12 thousand cases. That number includes more than 109,000 confirmed cases in Europe alone.
During a press conference, the emergency director of the UN health agency, doctor Michael Ryan, acknowledged that even as COVID-19 continues to spread in the world, “there are no new answers.”
He said that while the agency wants countries to avoid the strict lockdowns that have devastated their economies, governments must ensure that the most vulnerable people are protected and that various measures are taken.
“Most of the people in the world are still susceptible to this disease,” warned Ryan. He added that nations should focus not only on restrictive measures, but on strengthening their surveillance, testing, contact tracing systems and ensuring that populations are engaged in efforts to contain the disease.
As infections continue to rebound in Europe and other parts of the world, Ryan acknowledged that restrictive measures could be justified at some point. British scientists reported this week that the COVID-19 outbreak is doubling every two to three weeks. For their part, French hospitals are running out of beds in intensive care units and Spain declared a state of emergency in Madrid as confirmed cases of coronavirus rise.
Ryan opined that lockdowns “could be unavoidable where the disease has gotten out of control again, but we should not accept that in all countries the uptick in cases is accompanied by an immediate return to the need for lockdown measures.”
Globally, more than 36 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, including more than 1 million deaths.
Experts have said the numbers are much lower than the actual numbers, and Ryan reported Monday that the WHO’s “best estimates” indicate that “one in 10 people worldwide – or about 760 million people – may have been infected. ”.
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