Worst of Coronavirus Pandemic Still Ahead, WHO Director Says

Is this another fear mongering or is this based on advice from China to the World Health Organization (WHO)? Today, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is still ahead, raising new concerns just as countries are beginning to ease restrictive measures and planning to restart their economies.

“Trust us. The worst is yet ahead of us,”  Tedros said during a briefing.“Let’s prevent this tragedy. It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.” The pandemic globally had infected nearly 2.5 million people and killed more than 167,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Alluding to the so-called Spanish flu in 1918 as a reference for the coronavirus outbreak, Tedros told reporters in Geneva, “It has a very dangerous combination and this is happening … like the 1918 flu that killed up to 100 million people.”

“But now we have technology, we can prevent that disaster, we can prevent that kind of crisis,”  he said. “Let’s prevent this tragedy. It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.” Tedros urged global solidarity and national unity in order to continue fighting the virus and help limit future deaths. The global community has to take the virus on as a “common enemy for humanity” in order to defy it, he said.

On February 3, the same WHO chief said widespread travel bans not needed to beat China virus.” There was no need for measures that “unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade.” Dr. Tedros added: “We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent,” according to Reuters. Dr. Tedros went on to praise China saying “Because of this strategy and it weren’t for China, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher.”