World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic as the global death toll rose above 4,600 and the number of confirmed cases topped 125,000.
“We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” Tedros said at a news conference. “We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: All countries can still change the course of this pandemic.”
The U.S. death toll climbed to 33 and the number of U.S. cases rolled past 1,200, federal health officials said. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told a congressional committee the virus has spread to at least 38 states.
“Right now the epicenter – the new China – is Europe,” Redfield said. “And there’s a lot of people coming back and forth from Europe that are now starting to seed these communities.”
The current coronavirus outbreak is the first to have drawn a pandemic designation, Tedros said. For weeks, he balked at calling the outbreak a pandemic, and Wednesday he noted that 81 nations have reported no cases of the virus. Another 57 have reported 10 cases or less. More than 90% of confirmed cases are in four countries, and two of them – China and South Korea – are seeing cases decline, he said.
Containment remains as important as mass treatment of the infection, Tedros stressed.
“Several countries have demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled,” he said. “Even those countries with community transmission or large clusters can turn the tide.”
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‘Bottom line: It’s going to get worse’
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/