COVID-19 has exposed world’s health unpreparedness: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland

The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom, says the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the state of health unpreparedness the world has been.

Tedros made the remarks on Thursday at a media briefing following a trilateral meeting between WHO, France and Germany.

”The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-century event that has shown the world was not as prepared as it should have been,” he said.

“We must all learn the lessons it is teaching us: that we are one humanity, and none of us are safe until all of us are safe.”

COVID-19 has killed more than 482,000 people globally and infected over 9.4 million, according to data from the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Tedros urged world leaders to show leadership in the fight against the pandemic, whose effects are projected to last for years according to analysts.

Earlier, the WHO chief said the number of new infections was on the rise, a cause for concern globally.

He noted that in the last month alone, more than 4 million new cases had been reported, and if the trend continues, the global number of COVID-19 infections will surpass 10 million by the end of the week. - Africa