This is very alarming news. The World Health Organization reported on Wednesday, May 20, that 106,000 people worldwide had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past twenty-four hours. A sad record.
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During a virtual press conference in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, revealed the startling piece of information:
We have a long way to go in this COVID-19 pandemic. In the past 24 hours, 106,000 cases have been reported to WHO - the highest number for a single day since the epidemic began.
He said that two-thirds of these new cases had been detected in just four countries, which he did not name. We have reason to believe he might have been talking about the United States, Russia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. The WHO is very concerned about the resurgence of cases in countries where the health system is complicated and where physical distancing measures are nearly impossible to implement.
A cause for concern, specifically in low-income countries
"We are very concerned about the growing number of cases in low and middle-income countries," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. According to AFP, COVID-19 has killed 323,370 people (as of this past weekend) worldwide since the start of the epidemic.
While some countries are calling for the end of quarantine, it seems that for others it's merely the beginning. France ended their lockdown in mid-May, yet countries like the United States are still seeing high, albeit decreasing numbers of cases.
