GENEVA: The World Health Organization has warned that the worst is yet ahead of us in the coronavirus outbreak, raising new alarm bells about the pandemic just as many countries are beginning to ease restrictive measures.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus didn’t specify exactly why he believes that the outbreak that has infected nearly 2.5 million people and killed over 166,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, could get worse.
WHO chief warned “the worst is yet ahead of us” in the coronavirus outbreak, reviving the alarm just as many countries ease restrictive measures aimed at reducing its spread. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus didn’t specify why he believes the outbreak that has infected some 2.5 million people and killed over 166,000 could get worse.
Some people, though, have pointed to the likely future spread of the illness through Africa, where health systems are far less developed. Tedros alluded to the so-called Spanish flu in 1918 as a reference for the coronavirus outbreak. “It has a very dangerous combination and this is happening … like the 1918 flu that killed up to 100 million people, he told reporters in Geneva.
He and others, however, have previously pointed to the likely future spread of the illness through Africa, where health systems are far less developed. WHO chief warned “the worst is yet ahead of us” in the coronavirus outbreak, reviving the alarm just as many countries ease restrictive measures aimed at reducing its spread.
He and others, however, have previously pointed to the likely future spread of the illness through Africa, where health systems are far less developed. WHO chief warned “ The worst is yet ahead of us,” Tedros told reporters from WHO headquarters in Geneva. “Let’s prevent this tragedy. It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.”
Some Asian and European governments have gradually eased or started relaxing “lockdown” measures like quarantines, school and business closures and restrictions on public gatherings, citing a decline in the growth of COVID-19 case counts and deaths.
Tedros said: “There is no secret in WHO because keeping things confidential or secret is dangerous. It’s a health issue.” “This virus is dangerous. It exploits cracks between us when we have differences,” he said.
In one of his starkest comparisons yet, the U.N. health agency chief also alluded to the so-called Spanish flu more than a century ago, saying the coronavirus has a “very dangerous combination … like the 1918 flu that killed up to 100 million people.”
Tedros called the illness “Public Enemy No. 1,” and said: “We have been warning from Day One: This is a devil that everybody should fight.”
The head of the World Health Organization has warned that “the worst is yet ahead of us” in the coronavirus outbreak, raising new alarm bells about the pandemic just as many countries are beginning to ease restrictive measures

(Associated Press with Agency Inputs ).

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